Loving Him Was Red
by IloveheartlandX
Summary: A collection of one shots about Finn and Rachel's relationship, all based around Taylor Swift songs.
1. It feels like a perfect night

Loving Him Was Red

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own the songs these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: I wasn't intending on starting anymore stories but I had this idea and I wanted to start writing before it went out of my head! In this one shot, Santana and Rachel have been best friends since they were little kids and grew up together in New York and Finn and Rachel have never met even though Rachel lives with Kurt. Finn and Puck share an apartment, Santana, Brittany and Rachel share an apartment and Kurt and Blaine share an apartment.

Summary: A collection of one shots about Finn and Rachel's relationship, all based around Taylor Swift songs.

"_Uh oh_

_I don't know about you_

_But I'm feeling 22 _

_Everything will be alright_

_If you keep me next to you"_

_-22, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 1: It feels like the perfect night to fall in love with strangers

_Finn_

"Come on dude! It's your 22nd birthday, you have to go out" Puck says.

"I just don't feel like it. Why can't we just order pizza and play video games?" I ask.

"Because it's your birthday and I want to go out with my best friend and celebrate" he says.

"It will still be my birthday even if we just stay in" I say.

"You're still moping about that damn girl aren't you?" he asks.

"Well it kind of dents a man's pride when his girlfriend of four years says that he turned her into a lesbian" he says.

"Callie was your college sweetheart, it was never going to last. Besides the best way of getting over someone, is getting under someone else" Puck says.

"You are disgusting, did anyone tell you that?" I say hitting his shoulder.

"You do, constantly actually. But I can come up with many more crude things if you don't come out with me right now" he says.

"Okay, okay I will come out" I say.

"I'm glad you agreed because Artie and Sam are in the car downstairs" he says.

"You were that sure that I would agree?" I ask.

"Oh please you always cave" he says.

"Let's get this over with. I plan to be back here, playing video games and eating pizza by midnight" I say.

"You keep telling yourself that" he says.

"So what bar are we going to?" I ask.

"Finn do you really need to ask that question?" he asks sarcastically.

"Nope. Shenanigans it is, although I still maintain that you chose to make Shenanigans our regular pub because you find the word funny not because of the cheap drinks" I say.

"No, I chose Shenanigans because out of all the bars in Brooklyn, it had the hottest girls on a Saturday night" he says.

"Yeah and you always come back with at least two hot girls, whilst I come back alone" I say.

"Clearly you just don't have the Puckasauraus vibes" he says.

"Please get out of here before I change my mind" I say, already regretting agreeing to go out. We've done this every year on my birthday since I moved to New York when I was 18 and it always works out the same way. I spend the evening drinking alone at the bar, whilst Sam, Puck and Artie hit on girls. I don't see how this night is going to be any different.

_Rachel_

"BERRY!" a voice that can only be Santana's breaks into my sleep. I groan and throw one of my shoes at the door before I fall straight back to sleep. Seconds later, I am awoken by icy cold water dripping down my face.

"What the hell Santana!" I scream.

"You weren't waking up so I thought I'd speed the process along" she says.

"By throwing icy cold water on me?" I yell indignantly.

"I was just going to scream but this seemed more effective" she says shrugging.

"What do you want San?" I ask.

"We're going out, you, me, Britt, Blaine and Kurt. The others are going to meet us there because I figured it would take me a while to convince you to come" she says.

"No Lady Hummel today?" I ask.

"Nah, he asked me to stop doing that" she replies. I'm amazed that she's finally listened since she's called Kurt Lady Hummel since they first met when we were eighteen and he's been asking her to stop ever since.

"I'm not going out" I say stubbornly.

"You have been in a funk for two months since you broke up with Donkey Face-you are getting out of this house, you are not spending another night in bed eating vegan ice cream and watching Funny Girl over and over again" she replies.

"His name was Brody and do you blame me for being depressed? He was cheating on me with every cougar in Manhattan" I say.

"Yeah, a male prostitute was definitely not your best choice of boyfriend" San says.

"Besides I'm not really depressed about Brody, I didn't like him that much. I'm depressed because I am surrounded by people in love while I have no one. I'm depressed because every single guy I've dated since I graduated from NYADA has been an ass and most of all I'm depressed because my career is going nowhere" I say.

"All the more reason to go out and have some fun with your friends" she says.

"Why can't we just stay in and watch a movie together?" I ask.

"Because that doesn't get you out of the apartment" she replies.

"Well then why can't we go to the cinema and watch a movie?" I ask.

"That's not going to help you get out of your funk either" San says.

"Go on then San, what is going to help me feel better?" I ask.

"Shenanigans" she says, a wide smile on her face.

I have to stop myself from outwardly groaning. Shenanigans is a dive bar that is about 20 minutes away from our shared apartment in Bushwick. I hate it because all the guys who hit on me are disgusting and I end up drinking by myself at the bar all night because my best friends are both in relationships and can't keep their hands off each other.

"I really would be good with Funny Girl and my vegan ice cream" I say.

"You might be, but I'm not. I'm not taking no for an answer" she says stubbornly.

"Just give me a few minutes to dry myself off and change, then I'll come" I say, sighing. If I say no now, then she will just bug me until I say yes. Better to get this night over with sooner rather than later.

"Fine but I am choosing your outfit" she says.

"That was not part of the deal!" I say indignantly.

"I want you to look 22, not 82. Even with your college makeover you still manage to pick some of the strangest outfit combinations" she says.

"I highly doubt I'm going to meet any guys tonight but sure, you can pick out my outfit" I say.

"You never know Berry, tonight may be your lucky night" she says.

"I doubt it" I say before heading to the bathroom and drying myself off.

_Finn_

"Dude, hot girls at 2'o clock" Puck says as we walk into Shenanigans. I look over to where he's pointing and have to stop myself from groaning. In usual Puck style, he's picked out two blonde bimbos who are basically fake everything. I know I'm not the smartest guy in the world but these girls are unbelievably dumb and I never find that I have anything in common with them. I'm not like Puck; I don't just want to find a girl to have a quickie with.

"You go over to them, I'll just grab a drink at the bar" I say.

"Come on dude, this night was about getting you laid, not letting you drink alone" he says.

"They're just not my type Puck" I say. He shrugs and walks over to the girls, leaving me alone at the bar.

"Drinking alone again Finn?" the bartender Tony says.

"On my birthday as well" I say.

"Happy Birthday, how old are you today?" he asks.

"22" I reply.

"Did you not come here with friends?" he asks.

"Of course. Puck is over there with the two blondes, Sam is in the back making out with some brunette and Artie is giving some redhead a ride on his wheelchair" I say scanning the room for my friends.

"So you haven't seen anyone you like in here?" he asks.

"They're not my type" I say.

"Skinny half naked girls aren't your type?" he asked.

"Skinny half naked girls are looking for one night stands, not a boyfriend and I'm not a one night stand kind of guy" I say.

"So what would you like to drink Finn?" he asks.

"The usual please" I say. He puts my beer down on the bar and pops the top.

"Here's to another birthday alone I guess" I say taking a sip of my beer.

"I'll drink to that" a voice says from behind me. I turn around and standing at the bar is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She is tiny with beautiful brunette curls. Her nose is a little on the large side but it really suits her and she's wearing the cutest black and white dress with black heels. I swear it feels like my mouth drops onto the bar when I see her.

"I'll have a gin martini please" she says taking the stool next to mine.

"I believe we were toasting to birthdays alone" she says.

"Is it your birthday too?" I ask.

"No, but I know the feeling" she says.

"Here's to birthdays alone" I say and we toast before taking a sip of our respective drinks.

"I don't believe I got your name" she says.

"You didn't exactly give yours either" I reply.

"I'm Rachel Berry" she says holding out her hand.

"Finn Hudson" I say shaking it. It amazes me how perfectly her hand fits in mine.

"So, it's your birthday?" she asks.

"Yeah, my 22nd" I reply.

"Happy Birthday. Is it turning out to be a good one so far?" she asks.

"I wasn't sure earlier, but I don't know, it could still turn out to be the best yet" I say smiling.

"Why's that?" she asks.

"Because I met an incredibly pretty girl" I say.

_Rachel_

San was right after all, tonight is my lucky night. Finn Hudson may just be the most gorgeous man I've ever seen and he must be single otherwise he would never be at a place like Shenanigans, alone on his 22nd birthday. Not only is he gorgeous, he thinks I'm pretty as well. I never thought someone who looks like him would like a girl like me.

"That's very kind of you" I say trying to hide my blushing cheeks beneath my hair.

"So what is an attractive girl who does not look like a stripper doing in Shenanigans?" he asks.

"I hope that was a compliment" I say.

"It was. I mean that you don't look fake like all the other girls in this place" he says.

"Well thank you. My friend Santana dragged me here actually. I've been kind of depressed ever since I dumped my boyfriend" I say.

"I'm sorry to hear that" he says but the gleam in his eyes when he hears that I'm single does not match his sympathetic face.

"No you're not, you're pleased that I'm single" I say.

"What gave me away?" he asks.

"Your eyes" I say.

"So what happened?" he asks.

"With my boyfriend?" I ask.

"Yeah" he says.

"He was cheating on me with every single woman over the age of 40 in the Manhattan area. When we started dating, he didn't tell me that his side job to pay for school was being a male prostitute" I say.

"That sucks Rach. He sounds like a jerk" he says.

"He was. And Rach?" I ask.

"I'm sorry, you just seem more like a Rach than a Rachel. I can call you Rachel if you prefer" he says.

"No, I like Rach. No one else calls me that. Anyway I'm not really depressed about Brody, like you said he was a jerk" I say.

"What are you depressed about?" he asks.

"All of my friends are in relationships. I live with two of my best friends who are all over each other all the time, and my other best friends are engaged. It kind of gets to you when you're the only one alone" I say.

"I get it. It's my birthday and I'm drinking at a bar alone whilst my friends are picking up girls" he says.

"So no girlfriend?" I ask.

"You've just been dying to ask that haven't you?" he replies.

"Yes. So answer, do you have a girlfriend or not?" I ask.

"No. My girlfriend Callie who I was going out with for four years, dumped me for a girl. Said that dating me turned her into a lesbian" he says.

"I'm sure that's not true. My best friend is a lesbian and she says that she was always a lesbian, she just didn't want to admit it until she was older. Maybe she just didn't want to lie to you, or to herself anymore" I say.

"Maybe" he replies.

"So what do you do for a living Finn? Football coach?" I ask.

"I'm a teacher at a high school in Manhattan. Why did you say football coach?" he asks.

"I don't know, you're tall and muscular, you look like you play football" I say.

"I do play football. Not professionally or anything, just with my friends. I was the quarterback in high school" he says.

"I thought you were. You have the popular guy look" I say.

"Popular guys have a look?" he asks.

"I don't know, I mean you're really cute and most guys who were popular in high school are, so I guess that's a look" I say.

"Well I'm glad you think I'm cute" he says.

"You said you're a teacher, what do you teach?" I ask.

"I teach Music. I coach the glee club at my high school as well" he says.

"That's really cool. I was in glee club at high school" I say.

"So was I. My high school glee club coach really inspired me, he's the main reason I decided to become a teacher" he says.

"Forgive me for saying this but you don't seem like the type who would have been in a high school glee club" I say.

"I wasn't but that was the great thing about the glee club at my high school, it was a club for everyone no matter what your social status" he says.

"That's one of the things I love about music, it brings people together" I say.

"So how about you? What do you do?" he asks.

"I'm an actress" I say.

"Broadway?" he asks.

"Of course, how did you know?" I say.

"You're an actress in New York; it's more likely that you're a theatre actress than a film or TV actress. Have you been in anything I would know?" he asks.

"I haven't actually been in anything. I graduated from NYADA earlier this year and I've been auditioning for lots of stuff but nothing so far" I say.

"I'm sure you'll get something soon" he says.

"I hope you're right" I say.

"So are you from New York, or did you just move here to study?" he asks.

"Born and raised here in New York. My family lives in Manhattan but I couldn't afford it, so I live in Bushwick. How about you?" I ask.

"I come from Ohio but I moved here to do my degree at NYU. I live with my friend Puck in Williamsburg" he says.

"Ohio? That's cool, my best friend comes from Ohio" I say.

"Where? I might know him" he says.

"Lima" I reply.

"What's your friend's name?" he asks.

"Kurt Hummel" I say, causing him to spray beer all over the bar.

"That's my stepbrother" he says.

"No way! Kurt's your stepbrother?" I ask in shock.

"Yeah, my mom and his dad got married about six years ago" he says.

"Is it weird that I'm friends with your stepbrother and have never met you?" I ask.

"Yeah it is a little. I can't believe he never thought to introduce us" he says.

"I'm glad we met now anyway" I say.

"So am I" he says smiling his cute half smile again.

"Do you want to get out of here?" I ask.

"I would love to" he says. He takes my hand and we walk out of the bar together. Without me even having to ask, he slides his jacket over my shoulders.

"Thanks" I say.

"You looked a little cold" he says shrugging.

"So where do you want to go?" I ask.

"I don't know, whenever I come to this part of Brooklyn, it's always to go to Shenanigans" he says.

"I think I know the perfect place" I say smiling.

"Where?" he asks.

"I'm not telling, it's a surprise" I say tapping my nose.

"I've known you for one evening and you're already surprising me" he says.

"TAXI!" I yell and one comes screeching up to the sidewalk.

"After you my lady" Finn says opening the door for me.

"You're so sweet" I say sliding into the cab. I give the driver the address before Finn gets into the cab.

"So no hints about where we're going?" he asks.

"Not a one" I say smirking.

"Should we have let our friends know we were going before we left?" he asks.

"I could have told Santana but she wouldn't have stopped making out with Brittany long enough to acknowledge what I said" I say.

"Yeah, Puck, Artie and Sam looked a little preoccupied too" Finn says laughing.

The taxi pulls up outside Danny's Pizzeria and I grab Finn's hand.

"Pizza? But it's nearly midnight" he says.

"Exactly and they close at midnight so let's go" I say pulling him out of the cab.

"I don't think any girl has ever taken me to get pizza at midnight before" he says.

"Well you'll be having pizza-I'm a vegan so all I can eat from here is salad" I say.

"Vegan? What is that?" he asks.

"I don't eat any animal products of any kind" I say.

"Really? None at all?" he asks.

"That's right" I say.

"So you can't eat ice cream or anything?" he asks.

"I eat vegan ice cream, it tastes pretty good and not that different from real ice cream" I say.

"I'm sure I could taste the difference" he says.

"Well we'll have to test that sometime. Hey, Joe are you still serving?" I say.

"Yeah, you're cutting it close though" the guy behind the counter says.

"I'll have my usual and Finn will have….what do you want Finn?" I ask.

"I'll have a large Hawaiian pizza please, extra ham" he says.

"Oh and two coffees" I say.

"Is this to eat in or to go?" Joe asks.

"To go please" I say. We take seats at one of the many empty tables whilst we wait for our food.

"So what's the usual?" Finn asks.

"Caesar salad" I reply.

"You must come here a lot if you have a usual" he says.

"I do, this is mine and Santana's favourite place to eat. You must have quite the appetite to order a large pizza just for you" I say.

"It's what we do. Whenever we get takeout, me and Puck always order way more than we know we're going to eat. Then we live off the leftovers for the rest of the week" he says.

"The joys of being a broke young adult living in New York, I understand that all too well" I say.

"Yeah, being a newly qualified teacher, I don't exactly rake in the big bucks" he says.

"It's not all about money though" I say.

"It's not anything to do with money, I teach because I love it. If I wanted to make a lot of money I'd be a lawyer" he says.

"I think this may have been one of the best nights I've ever had" I say.

"Well it doesn't get much better than pizza at midnight" he replies jokingly.

"I'm serious, if it weren't for you I would be sitting alone drinking at Shenanigans" I say.

"Yeah, this is pretty much the best birthday I've had in a long time" he says taking my hand. I think he's going to kiss me and I'm a little disappointed when he doesn't.

"Order's up!" Joe yells. We take our coffee and food and walk out.

"So how far away from here do you live?" Finn asks.

"Why?" I ask.

"I'd like to walk you home that's why" he says.

"But why? I'm just a stranger you met in a bar" I say.

"Because I'm a gentleman and gentleman walk their dates home" he says.

"So this was a date?" I ask.

"Well we had drinks, we got food, and we got to know each other a little. Seems like a date to me" he says.

"Seems like a date to me too" I say smiling. He takes a huge bite of his pizza and grease dribbles down his chin making me laugh.

"Sorry I guess I'm not the neatest eater" he says.

"I like that, my last boyfriend always cared way too much about how he looked. Besides it's quite funny" I say wiping the grease off his chin with my napkin.

"I'm glad you think so" he says and he continues shoving pizza into his mouth, making me laugh until my stomach hurts.

"Are you not hungry?" he asks pointing to my uneaten Caesar salad.

"I was just finishing my coffee. Besides I was having so much fun watching you shove entire slices of pizza into your mouth that I guess I forgot about my food" I say, starting to pick at my Caesar salad.

We arrive at my apartment block all too soon. "This is me" I say.

"I guess this is goodnight then" he replies.

"Yeah I guess" I reply, upset that this incredible evening is over.

"Thank you for making this possibly the best birthday ever" he says.

"No problem. You do realise that your mouth is covered in tomato sauce right?" I say pointing to the tomato sauce at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh" he says lifting his hand up to wipe away the sauce, but I grab it.

"I'll get it" I say wiping his mouth with a napkin. We stand staring at each other in silence for a moment.

"This really was the perfect night" he says.

"For me too" I reply.

"There is one thing that could make it even better though" he says.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" I ask.

"A birthday present from you" he says.

"Finn, I only met you this evening, what exactly could I have to give you for your birthday?" I ask.

"I know the perfect present and it won't cost you a thing" he says.

"What's that?" I ask.

"A kiss" he says.

"One kiss, that's all?" I ask.

"That's all" he says, smiling his cute half smile.

"I think I can arrange that, Mr Hudson" I say raising an eyebrow. I take a step closer to him. He leans down, wrapping his arms around my waist and we kiss, soft and slow and beautiful. I feel a warmth spread through my body when he kisses me-it's a wonderful, new feeling.

"Best birthday present ever" he says, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, you weren't bad either" I say, a sparkle in my eye, causing him to hit me gently.

"So this really is goodnight now" he says.

"Goodnight" I say but I can't resist pulling him in for one last kiss.

"You wanted seconds, I really can't have been that bad" he says making me laugh.

"Do you have a pen?" I ask.

"Why would I have a pen?" he asks, looking confused.

"Of course you wouldn't, wait here, I'll be back in a minute" I say. I run up the stairs to my apartment, let myself in, find a pen and run back downstairs as fast as I possibly can.

"What did you need a pen for?" he asks but I hold up a finger to shush him. I scribble on the napkin and then hand it over to him.

"What's this?" he asks.

"Look at it" I say.

"Your phone number?" he asks.

"Call me, maybe we could schedule a second date" I say.

"I definitely will" he says, folding the napkin and putting it in his pocket.

"I'll see you soon for that date Rachel Berry" he says.

"I look forward to it, Finn Hudson" I say. I watch as he walks off down the street towards the subway station. I can't stop myself from grinning. Who would have thought it? Santana was actually right. Tonight really was my lucky night.

A/N: So that was my first chapter-I thought I'd start with a happy one shot, since not all of Taylor Swift's songs are happy. I have ideas for most of Taylor's songs, not just the ones from her Red album so I thought I would give you guys a choice as to which one shot I write next-you can choose between Begin Again, Never Grow Up, The Moment I Knew or Superstar-it might help you to listen to the songs to get an idea of what the one shot will be like before you choose. I hope you guys liked this as it's the first time I've tried something like this.

Review?


	2. I watched it begin again

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs that these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad you guys seem to like this. In this one shot, Rachel, Kurt and Santana all live in New York and Finn has just moved there. Kurt, Santana and Finn all lived in Ohio but Rachel grew up in New York. Finn and Rachel have never met.

"_I've been spending the last eight months_

_Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end_

_But on a Wednesday in a café I watched it begin again"_

_-Begin Again, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 2: I watched it begin again

_Rachel_

I stare at myself in the mirror for what feels like the thousandth time. I still can't decide if my dress is right, I mean it's just coffee so I can't look too smart. Still this is my first date in eight months, so I want to make a good impression on the guy. I look down at the black heels that I'm wearing. They're my favourite pair of heels but all I can think about is how much Jesse hated them. He always said that heels made me look like a slut and I haven't worn them in a long time. Maybe the heels were a bad idea, and I should go for some flats instead.

"BERRY! What the hell is taking you so long?" Santana calls through the door. I don't answer her so she just barges into the room.

"Do I look nice?" I ask hesitantly.

"Of course you do. We picked out the dress together, I made sure it was one you looked hot in" she says.

"I meant the heels. He always hated those heels" I say.

"Rachel, the guy dumped you eight months ago. You need to get back out there" she says.

"I know it's time, I'm just worried. I don't even know this guy, he could just be another Jesse" I say.

"KURT!" Santana calls through the door and my best friend Kurt comes running into the room.

"What is it?" he asks.

"Berry is freaking out" she says.

"Haven't we been over this already?" he asks.

"Yes, but it seems like we need to again otherwise we'll never get her out of here" she replies.

"Rachel, we have been over this. The guy we've set you up with is my stepbrother. He's the nicest guy in the world, he's sweet and funny and he will not break your heart like Jesse did" Kurt says.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"He's my stepbrother, of course I'm sure. He's going to love you" Kurt replies.

"And the heels aren't too much?" I ask.

"No! They look great on you and you'll need them. Finn is a lot taller than you" Kurt says.

"What does he look like again?" I ask.

"Look for the tallest guy in the café and that will be him" Kurt says.

"Are you sure I look alright?" I ask.

"You look incredible. Now go, before you're late" Santana says, pushing me out of the door so fast that I trip in my heels and fall.

"Thanks a lot San" I say as Kurt helps me get to my feet.

"At least you did it now, rather than when you were on your date" San says making me laugh.

"We got a smile! She's definitely ready for her date" Kurt says.

"You're sure the heels aren't too much?" I say, checking one last time before I leave.

"NO!" they say together before waving me out the door. The café is only a couple of blocks from our apartment but I don't want to walk in my heels so I take the subway. I put my headphones into my ear, and just my luck that the first song that comes on is Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I always loved that song, but Jesse hated it-or he didn't understand why it was good. He never appreciated any music that wasn't Broadway. I mean I love Broadway too but that song just speaks to me. I should stop thinking about Jesse. He's not going to be thinking about me, even a little bit. It's his loss, not mine. In fact I should consider myself lucky that I don't have to keep going out with a jerk like that.

The subway arrives at my stop and I get off the train, careful not to stumble in my heels. I make my way to the café, checking my watch to make sure that I am early. I always like to be early for a date. Jesse hated that, he was always late whenever we had to meet up. Stop Rachel!, I have to tell myself. I shouldn't be thinking about him. I should just be thinking about this date. I look around the café for an empty seat because there's no way he'll be here yet. No one's ever as early for a date as I am. Besides Kurt told me that he's not the most punctual of people.

But he surprises me. There at the back of the café, is an incredibly tall, incredibly attractive man. I assume this is Finn, since he is waving at me and he is taller than anyone else in this café. Kurt did not do him justice in his descriptions. Finn is possibly the most gorgeous man I have ever seen. I make my way over to him.

I am about to pull out my chair but he does it for me. I can't stop a smile from spreading over my face. I always had to remind Jesse that it was nice to pull out a chair for a lady but he did it automatically. He probably doesn't even know how good it feels for him to do that for me.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Berry" I say holding out my hand for him to shake.

"Finn Hudson" he replies shaking my hand. I have a feeling that this date is going to go just fine.

_Finn_

This girl looks incredible. Kurt's description did not do her justice, she's a knockout. She's tiny and has the cutest smile. Her nose might be a little large but it suits her and her hair is so beautiful, I always wanted a girl with brunette curls-makes a difference from all the bitchy blondes I've dated. She seems a little distracted though, and I'm not entirely sure why.

"Would you like some coffee?" I ask her.

"Yes. Could you make sure mine has soy milk though? I'm a vegan" she says.

"Sure" I say smiling. I order our coffees and soon, I am back at the table.

"So you just moved to New York?" she asks me.

"Yes, I got a job at a high school here" I say.

"You're a teacher?" she asks, looking a lot more interested than most girls do when I tell them about my job.

"Yeah, I'm a music teacher" he says.

"That's amazing. Is being a teacher as rewarding as people say it is?" she asks.

"Absolutely, there's nothing better than the feeling that you inspired a group of kids. I chose to be a teacher actually because my high school glee coach was so inspiring. He made me believe I could do anything and I decided I wanted to do that for kids too" I say.

"That's amazing really" she says.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah, you sound surprised that I think that" I say.

"Most girls aren't usually interested in my job, that's all" he says.

"Well, one thing you'll find out about me is that I'm not like most girls" she says smiling sexily.

"I bet you're not" I say, returning her smile.

"What kinds of music do you like then?" she asks.

"Classic rock, any sort of rock music is good but classic rock is my favourite. Journey has to be my favourite band of all time" I say. She splutters on her coffee, spraying it over the table.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing, it's just so perfect that you like Journey. I'm a massive Journey fan, I have all their records on vinyl" she says.

"So do I, Don't Stop Believin' is one of my favourite songs of all time" I say.

"Mine too. We'll have to sing it together some time" she says.

"Yes we will" I say.

"So other than being a Journey fan and a music teacher, what else can you tell me about you?" she asks. She seems very keen to talk about me, I don't really know much about her yet, other than the fact that she likes Journey and is a vegan.

"I play the drums and I love football-I was the Quarterback in high school. But I want to hear something about you. What do you do?" I say.

"I'm an actress on Broadway" she says.

"That's cool. I've never been into Broadway much but my stepbrother loves it. Which of course you already know since you live with him" I say.

"Have you ever seen a Broadway show?" she asks.

"Nah, like I said it's not really my sort of thing" I say.

"I think I know one you'd like. Rock of Ages has some great rock music in it" she says.

"I thought all musicals were sappy love stories?" he says.

"Well there is some romance in Rock of Ages but it has some great music. Maybe I could take you sometime?" she says.

"I'd like that. So tell me, what's the worst audition you've ever been on?" I say.

"Oh, there's been so many. But the absolute worst audition was one I went on last year. I was auditioning for Maureen in RENT and it was so terrible. I knew the song and everything and I had practiced really hard, I was confident that I was going to do well. But on the way to the audition I had a salad and anyway there must have been something bad in it because I felt queasy the entire way there. I got there and I got about three lines into the song when I projectile vomited all over the casting directors. I couldn't finish the song, I was throwing up so much and I threw up all over the stage. But that's not even the worst part. The next girl came onto the stage and she slipped on my vomit, and made me fall over, face first. It was the most disgusting thing ever! Of course I didn't get the part" she says.

I laugh, maybe the hardest laugh I ever have, throwing my head back in the process, making her laugh too.

"It wasn't funny! I was covered in my own vomit and so was this other girl!" she says indignantly but this only makes me laugh harder.

"You're the funniest girl I've ever met" I say and she seems to grin from ear to ear. I take her hand and hold it across the table. She seems to like this but she still seems to be a little shy. I don't know why and I don't want to ask.

_Rachel_

I know I'm coming across shy. I'm trying not to; I just can't stop thinking about Jesse. Even when he laughed at my bad audition story, I was thinking about how Jesse never thought my stories were funny. I should try to open myself up to him more, I know but I'm scared. He might be a Jesse in disguise. I mean I liked Jesse when I met him and he turned out to be an ass. What if Finn ends up being like that?

"So you grew up here in New York?" he asks.

"Yes I did, I grew up in Williamsburg with my dad and I used to perform at jazz restaurants when I was younger" I say.

"You like jazz music?" he asks.

"I like all music really. I mean obviously I love Broadway music but my dads always wanted me to be interested in lots of different types of music so I've always listened to lots of different stuff. Besides I needed practice performing, and the jazz crowd was always a nice crowd" I say.

"Did you say dads?" he asks.

"Yeah, I have two gay dads. Do you have a problem with that?" I ask trying not to sound offended. Jesse was always a little uncomfortable around my dads, I remind myself and then mentally kick myself for doing that.

"Not at all, my stepbrother's gay remember? People should be allowed to love who they want" he says and I relax.

"Are you alright, you seem a little tense" Finn says.

"I'm fine. So you know about my family, how about you tell me about yours?" I say.

"Wait, you never told me about your mom. Unless that's a sore point with you, because you don't have to tell me about her if it is" he says. I never talked about my mom with Jesse, he never even met her in the two years that we went out but I feel more comfortable with Finn.

"No it's okay. My mom and I are just getting to know each other really. She was the surrogate for my dads-an aspiring Broadway actress just like me who needed money. So she agreed to have me. But she moved away as soon as I was born. My dads didn't stop her from seeing me but she never did. Then when I was sixteen I got curious and I went looking for her. She was living in Ohio and she had adopted a baby. She didn't want to see me. She slammed the door in my face" I say.

"What's her name?" he asks.

"Shelby Corcoran" I say and he looks shocked.

"Why do you seem so surprised?" I ask.

"I know Ms Corcoran-wow I hadn't noticed how much you look like her. She adopted my friend Quinn's baby" he says.

"How do you know my mom?" I ask.

"She coached one of our rival glee clubs Vocal Adrenaline and she coached a second glee club at my high school in my senior year called The Troubletones. I never really met her. Did you ever see her again after she slammed the door in your face?" he says.

"She came to see me at Christmas last year. I wasn't exactly thrilled to see her. She said that she was just surprised when I came to find her but of course I knew that was total crap. We argued for a long time but it was good for us. It meant we could hash out some of our issues. She's actually a pretty great person and we have a lot in common but it's going to take me a while to get over my issues with her-I mean the woman abandoned me and ignored me for twenty three years. Still she's trying I guess. We talk on the phone once a week and since she moved back to New York with Beth, I've been to visit them" I say.

"It's great that your mom is trying at least" he says.

"It is, and I actually do love Beth now. She's so cute and I did always want a little sister when I was growing up. I realised that it's not her fault my mom replaced me and once I did that I stopped resenting her so much" I say.

"It's great that you feel comfortable enough to tell me that" he says.

"It feels good to get it off my chest-I don't really talk about my mom much. What about you? Do you have a good relationship with your mom?" I say.

"Yeah I do. My mom's the best-my dad died when I was a baby, so until she married Kurt's dad it was just me and her. I've always just wanted to make her proud of me. She once tackled a kid's mom when her kid made fun of me in Kindergarten for being tall. She said would have tackled the kid, but that wouldn't have been fair since he was only five" he says making me laugh.

"She sounds great-I wish I had memories like that of my mom" I say.

"You probably have amazing memories of your dads that I don't have though" he says.

"That's true-my dads are great. How did your dad die? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" I say.

"No it's okay-you told me about your mom, I can tell you about my dad. His name was Christopher Hudson, he was a US marine but he was dishonourably discharged from the marines and he got addicted to drugs. He died of an overdose" he says.

"I'm sorry I asked. That must have been really hard for you" I say.

"It was hard learning that he died of an overdose rather than in the marines-my mom only told me he died like that when I was eighteen. I actually joined the Army briefly before I realised that being a teacher was what I wanted to do" he says.

"How did that go?" I ask.

"Not good-I got a semi-honorable discharge when I shot myself through the thigh with my rifle, I was lucky that it didn't hit anything major. I wanted to honour my dad but it wasn't right for me. I spent a few months back at my high school helping out with the glee club and realised that I was actually good as a teacher so I enrolled in the Education course at OSU. I graduated two years ago and did my training at my old high school and then this job offer came up here" he says.

"It might have been better if you'd worked out that it wasn't right for you before you shot yourself in the leg" I say.

"Yeah, it would have been but it was just something I had to experience-for my dad's memory" he says.

"It's nice that you wanted to do something to honour your dad-especially since you never met him" I say.

"Just because I never met him, doesn't make him any less my family" he says.

"You're right about that. So what about the rest of your family?" I say.

"Well that's about it really-you've met Kurt and I assume he's told you about Burt?" he says.

"Your stepfather? I've met him actually when he came to visit Kurt at Thanksgiving last year. He's a lovely man" I say.

"He is, we get along really well now. I was a little resistant to his relationship with my mom at first, but he really loves her and we have a lot in common-he's been like the dad I never had. We go to sports games together and I helped out in his tire shop as a way to earn some extra money for school, it's like we are actually father and son, rather than stepfather and stepson" he says.

"How about you and Kurt? Are you close?" I ask.

"Well there was this really awkward period when Kurt had a crush on me" he says and I laugh so hard that I fall out of my chair which makes me turn bright red because I can't believe I was such a klutz in front of him. He's such a gentleman though and he helps me up and back into my chair.

"Sorry, just imagining Kurt with a crush on you was a little too much" I say trying to stop myself from laughing again.

"Oh he was really intense. But once he got over his crush and our parents got married, we became closer. That's actually one of the reasons I was so excited to get the job in New York-I've only really seen him when he's come back to Ohio for holidays since he moved away so it will be nice to spend more time together" he says.

"I hope Beth and I are like that when she's older" I say.

"I'm sure you will be. Beth will tell all her friends how her sister is the famous Broadway sensation, Rachel Berry" he says.

"That's sweet" I say stroking his hand. We both finish off our drinks (which are kind of cold by now since we've been talking for so long) and then we walk out of the café. He insists on walking me back to the subway, which is refreshing for me because Jesse would usually just dump me in a cab at the end of our dates. No-I have to remind myself to not think about Jesse anymore.

I feel like I should tell him why I was coming across shy earlier in our date. He might think it was because I don't like him. I should reassure him that it's not about him; it's about an ass that broke my heart eight months ago. I feel myself about to bring him up but then Finn starts talking again.

"I love the city at this time of year. Christmas has to be my favourite holiday ever. I love the snow and the presents and the smell of Christmas trees" he says.

"Does your family have any cute traditions?" I ask.

"Of course, every year we watch Christmas movies and it's always the same ones-The Grinch, It's A Wonderful Life, The Holiday & Elf" he says.

"Oh I love The Holiday-I watch that every year at Christmas too!" I say.

"Oh and my mom always bakes these amazing Christmas cookies which we eat with the movies. I always lick out the bowl because I suck at cooking!" he says.

"Your family Christmases sound like so much fun" I say.

"They are aside from the fact that Kurt makes us watch The Sound of Music-the songs are nice but man that film is long!" he says.

"What else do you do at Christmas?" I ask.

"Aside from eating too much and watching movies? We do the usual stuff, opening presents & we always go ice skating-I suck because I trip over my skates and end up falling flat on my face. This scar on my chin is from ice skating actually, I fell over and cut my face on the ice" he says.

"Yeah, I can't imagine you being good at skating" I say.

"So, how about you? What are your family Christmases like?" he asks.

"My family doesn't celebrate Christmas because they're Jewish, but I've been celebrating with Santana and our friends ever since I moved to New York. We go to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and we go skating in Central Park. We also go to Serendipity and have hot chocolates and like your family we watch Christmas movies as well. We invite our friends over for a big Christmas party on Christmas Day and we have a big dinner and Christmas movies like your family. We also do Christmas Karaoke" I say.

"Christmas Karaoke?" he asks.

"Yeah, we get out our karaoke machine and sing Christmas songs. It's usually at the part of the evening where everyone's drunk so it's pretty funny" I say.

"That sounds like something I definitely want to see" he says.

"Oh it is, believe me you haven't seen anything until you've seen drunk Santana" I say making him laugh in that cute way of his.

Suddenly I find that I don't want to talk about Jesse. I don't want to think about how much he hurt me because it's over. It's finished and now all I want to talk about is Christmas. Kurt and Santana were right. I needed this; I needed to see that not all guys are jerks. Finn has made me believe that love isn't out to hurt me and I can finally move on from Jesse to something better with Finn.

We stop outside the subway station. "This has been a really amazing date" I say.

"It really has, we should definitely do this again" he says.

"How about I get us tickets to Rock of Ages?" I ask.

"That sounds good. You could call me with the details" he says.

"I'll need your number for that" I say smiling.

"How about we trade phones?" he says. I pass him my phone and he passes me his. We type in each other's numbers and pass our phones back. This is a new start for me and I'm no longer nervous about Finn being like Jesse. I can see that he's not a Jesse. I'm excited for the possibility of our future together.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again" I say.

"Me too" he replies. We stand in silence, staring at each other for a few minutes. Then he pulls me into him and kisses me. I don't want him to let go, that's how amazing the kiss is.

"Goodbye, Rachel" he says.

"Goodbye Finn" I say smiling and waving as he walks away.

All it took was eight months and meeting a very attractive, charming, funny man but I am finally starting to believe in love again.

A/N: What can I say? I have a soft spot for fluffy Finchel-not all of these one shots will be fluffy though; there will be some angst for our favourite couple too. As with the last chapter, I'll give you guys a choice of four song possibilities for the next chapter-Back To December, The Outside, Stay Beautiful or The Other Side of The Door-again you may want to listen to the songs to get an idea of what the chapter will be like. I hope you guys liked this chapter.

Review?


	3. I go back to December all the time

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs that these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad that this is getting a positive reception. This one shot is actually set in the canon glee universe, after Finn and Rachel broke up the first time. This song is one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs, so I hope you all like this. I've changed a few details of Finn and Rachel's breakup from canon but the reasons are the same.

"_So this is me swallowing my pride_

_Standing in front of you saying, "I'm sorry for that night"_

_And I go back to December all the time_

_It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you_

_Wishing I'd realised what I had when you were mine_

_I'd go back to December, turn around and make it all right_

_I go back to December all the time"_

_-Back To December, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 3: I go back to December all the time

_Rachel_

I tap my fingers nervously on the table as I wait for him to walk in. I never thought that he'd agree to it. Not after the way I broke his heart. I was so stupid, kissing Puck. I threw away the best guy I've ever had and now he's never going to forgive me. It's only been two weeks since we broke up and all I can think about is how much I miss him. He agreed to see me, so he must have forgiven me a little. Or so I tell myself. I've tried to apologize a million times but he never answers his phone or his door.

"Rach?" a voice says, breaking into my reverie.

"Finn, I'm so glad you came" I say standing up. I'm not sure whether to go for a hug or a handshake but Finn decides for me. He holds out his hand and I shake it.

"I wasn't going to. But I guess I just can't stay away" he says. The pain in his eyes is recognizable to me; it's the same pain that's in mine.

"How have you been?" I ask.

"I've been fine" he says brusquely.

"How's Kurt? I haven't seen him since my birthday" I say.

"He misses you a lot but he's having a great time at Dalton. He has this crush on a guy there, his name's Blaine I think" Finn says.

"Have you met him?" I ask.

"No, I haven't yet" he replies.

"Tell Kurt that he can still see me. Just because we broke up, doesn't mean I don't want to be friends with him anymore" I say.

"I have. I think Kurt's just been busy at school, him not seeing you has nothing to do with me" he says.

"How about your mom?" I ask.

"If it's possible I think she misses you more than I do" he says.

"I always loved your mom" I say.

"She wants me to get back together with you. Says you're good for me. As if I don't know that" he says.

"I'm sorry Finn. I really am. I know I hurt you badly but you have to believe me when I say that the kiss with Puck was nothing more than a stupid mistake" I say.

"Like you believed me when I say that thing with Santana was a stupid mistake and it meant nothing?" he says coldly.

"The two things were completely different!" I protest.

"Yes, I wasn't with you when I slept with Santana, you cheated on me with Puck-believe me, I know how different they are" he says.

"How many times do I have to apologise before you forgive me?" I ask.

"I don't know Rach. Maybe never" he says.

"If you don't want to forgive me then why did you come here?" I ask.

"Because I wanted to see you" he says, his eyes softening a little.

"Well that was what I wanted to say. I wanted to apologize for what I did and I wanted you to actually hear it this time" I say.

"I'm sorry Rachel but I still can't forgive you. So if that's what you want from me, then you may as well go" he says.

"Fine" I say. I have to cover my face until I am out of the coffee shop so he doesn't see the tears streaming down my face. I turn on the radio in my car and the Taylor Swift song I have been playing on repeat since our breakup comes on. As it plays all I can think about is the night that Finn dumped me in the Christmas tree lot.

_Flashback_

_We finish singing the song and there he is standing in front of me. This is my last chance to get him back, I know that. We stare at each other in silence for a few seconds before we fall into an amazing, passionate kiss. _

"_You can't do this Rach. You can't sing a song and kiss me, thinking it will make everything right again. You really hurt me" he says._

"_I'm sorry! It was a stupid mistake. I don't love Puck, I love you. I always have and I always will" I say._

"_That's not enough. You cheated on me Rach and that's not okay" he says._

"_I don't know what else to do. Tell me what to do" I say, tears rolling down my cheeks. _

"_There's nothing you can do. Rachel, I'm done" he says._

"_What do you mean you're done? You're giving up on us?" I ask._

"_I'm giving up on you. This is it Rachel, I'm officially breaking up with you" he says. He turns and walks away from me, leaving me crying in a heap on the floor. I take out the rose from behind my back. I was going to give it to him as a symbol of our love. Instead I place the rose on the floor and then I crush it with my foot. Our love is dead-at least to him and so is the rose. _

_End of flashback_

I watch him walk out of the coffee shop and just like me, he seems to be crying. It's not something I'm used to seeing, Finn always seemed so strong and solid to me. I turn the key in the ignition and drive away. If I have to watch Finn break down then I just might fall apart myself.

That night, I sit by the window watching the snow fall. Somewhere Finn is probably doing the same thing. He always loved the snow-whenever it started snowing he acted like a little kid, so happy and excited. I can't sleep, all I dream about is him. Instead I just watch the snow.

_Flashback_

_My seventeenth birthday came soon after Finn broke up with me. My dads were throwing a huge birthday party for me downstairs but I just couldn't enjoy it. The most important person in the world to me wasn't here. I keep staring at the phone waiting for it to ring. I don't know why I was expecting him to. _

_A knock comes at the door. "Rachel?" a small voice says._

"_Come in" I whisper._

_Kurt's head pokes around the door. "Your dads wanted you to come downstairs, it's time to cut the cake" he says._

"_I'm not hungry" I say._

"_You can't just stay up here all night" he says._

"_I can't pretend to be happy when it feels like my heart is breaking" I say._

"_It might make you feel better" he says._

"_Nothing will ever make me feel better" I say._

"_Why are you staring at your phone?" he asks._

"_I was hoping he'd call. Why didn't he call?" I ask._

"_I don't know. He's completely heartbroken Rachel, I promise you that" he says._

"_He should have called" I say falling onto Kurt and crying onto his shoulder._

"_I know sweetie" he says stroking my hair as I cry, all night long._

_End of flashback_

Maybe I shouldn't have asked to see him, but I needed to apologise one last time. I still haven't been able to admit that it's truly over between us but after seeing how cold he was to me today I have to. He's not like the Finn I dated. He's hurt and broken hearted just like I am. Why can't he realise that the only thing that can put him back together again is me? That we were amazing together? That he was the best thing I ever had?

I feel the tears start to roll down my cheeks again so I blink the tears away from my eyes and concentrate on watching the snow swirl to the ground. It's really coming down hard now. I can't think about anything but Finn so I decide to take my old photo albums out of the closet. I turn the page to my favourite picture, one of Finn and I, the summer we started dating.

_Flashback_

"_Rach, come on we're going to be late" Finn calls. He's picking me up for our first official date-well technically it's our first trip away as a couple but we will have our first official date whilst we're away. _

"_I'm coming, I'm coming" I say running down the stairs to meet him, luggage in hand. It's a surprise trip, all I know is that we're going away somewhere for a week. _

"_Hi" I say smiling._

"_Hi" he says, smiling that sexy half smile of his, and then he kisses me. We walk out to his truck together and like the gentleman he is, he helps me into the car. _

"_Now are you going to tell me where we're going?" I ask._

"_It wouldn't be a surprise then would it?" he says._

"_I guess not" I admit. _

"_You're gonna love it" he says._

"_I'm with you, of course I will" I say. We drive for a while, singing together. I hadn't realised how lonely it was singing in the car alone before but I do now that I have someone to sing with. _

_I assumed for our first date that Finn would take me to Breadstix, but after he takes the road that leads out of Lima, I am stumped to where he could be taking me. _

"_Okay just tell me, are we going somewhere that's in the state?" I ask._

"_All I'm telling you is that it will take a while to drive there and what I've already told you which is that we'll be staying a week" he says._

"_Is it a long drive?" I ask._

"_About 10 hours" he says._

"_10 hours? Where the hell are we going that it takes ten hours to get there?" I ask._

"_Not telling. That's why we had to leave early though" he says. _

"_Can you not just give me a hint?" I ask._

"_Nope. Now let's find another song to sing" he says turning up the radio. I know he knows how much it is irritating me to not know where we are going and I think he's enjoying it. _

_I fall asleep about halfway through the trip. It's not dark yet but being on the road has made me tired. I'm not entirely sure how long it's been when Finn starts to poke me._

"_We're here, Rach" he says._

"_How long was I out for?" I ask._

"_We'd been driving for about five hours when you fell asleep" he says laughing._

"_What are you laughing at?" I ask._

"_You, you're just the cutest sleeper ever" he says. _

"_So now that we're finally here will you tell me where we are?" I ask._

"_Virginia" he says smiling._

"_You drove me all the way to Virginia?" I ask._

"_Yes I did" he says._

"_I assumed you were taking me somewhere in Ohio" I say._

"_I thought about that but I decided that it would be more romantic to take you for a vacation in a different state" he says._

"_It is" I say kissing him. He takes a basket out of the back of the truck and we start to walk._

"_So where are we going?" I ask._

"_The beach" he says smiling. _

"_You remembered?" I ask. When we first met I told him that my favourite memories from my childhood were our family vacations to Virginia Beach. _

"_I remember everything about you" he says kissing me softly. We walk to the beach together hand in hand. I kick off my shoes and enjoy the feeling of the sand between my toes as we walk along the beach. _

_Finn sets up the picnic and we sit down for a nice dinner. I hadn't realised how hungry I was in the car but now, looking at all this food, I just can't wait to eat._

"_Dig in, and don't worry my mom made it" he says making me laugh. Finn is not exactly known for his cooking skills._

"_Your mom makes the best vegan lasagne ever" I say between mouthfuls._

"_She also makes the best meat one ever" he says. _

"_This is incredible Finn" I say._

"_I wanted to make it as close to our date in the auditorium as possible. I mean that was technically our first date" he says._

"_I guess it was. Hey you even managed to find the airplane cups" I say._

_We eat our food, talking about our plans for the week that we were spending in Virginia and I feel so comfortable with him. After our dinner, he takes my hand. _

"_I know I'm the suckiest dancer but it seems like a romantic thing to do right now" he says. With the stars and the moonlight, dancing does seem like a nice thing to do._

"_Just try to avoid the toes okay" I say making him laugh. _

"_I'll try" he says. He takes out his Ipod and puts on a song. I recognise the tune to Faithfully immediately. He smiles and takes me in his arms, and we dance together under the stars. He does step on my toes a little but I find that I don't care. It's perfect, like a moment from one of those romantic comedies that I love. _

_When the song finishes, he sweeps me off my feet and kisses me. I don't even notice him pulling out his camera and taking a picture. He places me down gently on the beach._

"_I'll race you to the sea" he says, starting to run before he's finished his sentence._

"_Hey no fair! You had a head start!" I yell chasing after him._

_End of flashback_

If only things could have stayed like that. We were so happy then. Maybe if he'd told me about Santana before then we could still be like that. Who am I kidding though? The only way we could be as happy as we were before is if I hadn't kissed Puck. I could have got over him and Santana eventually. But he's never going to get over the fact that I cheated on him, with the same guy that his last girlfriend cheated on him with.

He was the first guy that I ever loved. He told me that day at regionals but I didn't say it back until the fall of our junior year. I'm glad I waited in a way, because it was completely magical.

_Flashback_

_It was the September of our junior year and Finn and I were sleeping in the back of his truck, looking up at the stars. I had just seen my mom with Beth at the mall; she hadn't even called to say she was back._

"_Why didn't she call me?" I cry into his shoulder._

"_Because she's a jerk Rach" he says._

"_She had the chance to have a relationship with me last year and she let it go. Then she goes and replaces me with another girl's kid and now she doesn't even tell me when she's in town" I sob._

_He lifts my head off his shoulder. "You listen to me Rach. You are the greatest person I have ever met. It is your mom's loss; that she doesn't want to know you and you shouldn't feel bad about it" he says wiping the tears away from my face. He's right, it's not my fault that my mom doesn't want to know me and I shouldn't feel bad about that, she should. _

"_I love you" I say. _

"_That's the first time you've ever said that" he says._

"_I know. I wanted it to be perfect, and this, being here with you right now is perfect" I say._

"_Well I love you too" he says kissing me. We cuddle up together and I fall asleep with my head on his chest. _

_End of flashback_

I don't want to sit here anymore, I want to go and fight for Finn. I can't accept that something that was so good is just over. Without thinking about it, I walk out of the house and head for Finn's. I don't even put on a jacket which was probably a bad idea since it's been snowing heavily this evening and it's freezing outside.

Finn's mom's car is not in the driveway when I get there so it must just be Finn in the house alone. I know he's home because I can see him in the upstairs window. He is sitting in exactly the same position that I was, by the window watching the snow.

I knock on the door several times and I hear his footsteps coming down the stairs. The door doesn't open but I can hear his crying on the other side of the door.

"I know you hate me and you don't have to open the door if you don't want to. I know you're there so don't try to pretend you don't hear me. I love you and it's like I'm not a complete person without you. What I did with Puck was wrong and I know that. It was a stupid, spiteful mistake that I wish I'd never made because I know how much it hurts you. It's hard for me to admit when I've done something wrong, but I did and I know that our break up was all my fault. I can't live without you" I say. I pause and take a breath before continuing my speech.

"You are the most important thing in my life and if I could go back and not kiss Puck then I would but I can't. I'd go back to December and I stop myself from kissing him. Heck I'd go back and stop you from leaving me at that Christmas tree lot. I can't change it, all I can say is that I'm so incredibly sorry and that I'm not giving up on us. I will stand out here in the snow all night if that's how long it will take for you to forgive me and if that will show you how sorry I am. I truly am sorry Finn" I say. He doesn't make any noise but I know he's heard all of it. I take a step away from his front door.

It's completely freezing outside but I am true to my word. I stand outside in the snow, with only my thin jumper on until it feels like my fingers and toes are about to fall off. Then, finally I hear the sound of the door opening. I don't think I've ever been happier.

"I don't want to give up on us either Rach. You really hurt me with what you did with Puck but I understand that I hurt you when I lied about losing my virginity to Santana-for what it's worth, I wish it had been you. It might take me a while to trust you again but I'm willing to wait. I know that you're sorry and that I said I couldn't forgive you but I love you and I can't live without you. These last few weeks have been torture and we've both made mistakes but we can get past this" he says.

"So does this mean….." I say but he interrupts me with a kiss.

"Yes we're back together" he says. He takes something a wrapped box from out of his back pocket.

"I've been carrying this around since your birthday" he says handing it to me. I open the box and there is a beautiful star shaped necklace lying inside.

"A star for my star" he says attaching the necklace around my neck.

"It's beautiful" I say smiling.

"Just like you" he replies.

"I love you" I say.

"I love you more" he says.

"Not possible" I reply kissing him again.

"You look absolutely freezing, come on, let's get you inside" he says.

"Thank goodness, I thought you were going to make us stay outside all night" I say. He laughs and we walk back to his house together.

I don't have to go back to December anymore because I have him back. We might have to work through some issues, but together we can get through anything.

A/N: I know this was all from Rachel's point of view rather than Rachel and Finn's point of view like the last two chapters but I thought the chapter worked better like that-I finished this chapter quickly for you guys because I love this song so much and I really enjoyed writing my Finchel version of this song-I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much! So here's your four choices of song for the next chapter-All Too Well, State Of Grace, The Lucky One or Everything Has Changed. I hope you guys liked this chapter.

Review?


	4. Everything has changed

"Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs that these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, as I said it's one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs so I'm glad you guys liked it. This one shot features one of my favourite things to write-young Finchel! This is another one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs and if anyone hasn't seen the music video yet, then you should watch it because it's the sweetest thing in the world. I want to make it clear that in Finn's POV, Glee club hasn't started yet so he isn't friends with any of the glee kids (aside from Rachel and Puck because they met when they were younger).

"_Cause all I know is we said "Hello"_

_And your eyes look like coming home_

_All I know is a simple name_

_Everything has changed_

_All I know is you held the door_

_You'll be mine and I'll be yours_

_All I know since yesterday is everything has changed"_

_-Everything Has Changed, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran_

Chapter 4: All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

_Rachel_

"You're going to love your new school Rachel, I promise" my daddy says as we wait for the bus to pull up to the curb outside our new house.

"I liked my old school; and living in New York" I say angrily.

"Well I'm sure you'll like your new school. You might meet some nice people" my dad says.

"I was going to go to the best performing arts school in the country. Now I'm going to have to go to Lima Middle School and then to some crappy public high school" I say angrily.

"You're a star Rachel and you'll do just as well here as you would have in New York" Daddy says.

"You'd better be right about that or I'll never forgive you" I say. The bus pulls up to the curb.

"We'll come and pick you up from school later" Dad says.

"Forget about it, I'll get the bus" I say. I walk up the steps onto the bus and look around for a place to sit. Everyone puts their bags on their seat when I walk past, and I swear I can hear people laughing.

"Did you see the nose on that chick?" one of them says.

"Shut up Quinn. Here, new girl you can sit next to me" a voice says from the back of the bus. I look to see who the voice belongs to and it is the cutest guy I have ever seen. He's really tall, much taller than I am, with beautiful brown eyes and the cutest smile I've ever seen.

"Thank you" I say, taking the seat next to him.

"My name's Finn Hudson" he says holding his hand out for me and I shake it.

"Rachel Berry, I just moved here from New York" I say.

"Don't listen to Quinn, I think you're really pretty" he says and I can't tell who blushes more, him or me.

"Thank you" I say.

"What grade are you in?" he asks.

"Sixth, I'm eleven" I say.

"Cool that's the same as me. I'm eleven too. You could always hang out with me at school, since you don't know anybody else" he says.

"That's nice of you" I reply.

"So you used to live in New York? What was that like?" he asks.

"I loved it. New York is the best city in the world. I was supposed to go to Professional Children's School this year but then my stupid dads got higher paying jobs in Cleveland so we had to move here" I say.

"What's Professional Children's School?" he asks. I'm shocked that he hasn't heard of it before, it's a pretty famous school.

"It's a school for aspiring performers like me. I'm going to be on Broadway one day" I say proudly.

"What's Broadway?" he asks looking confused.

"You don't know what Broadway is?" I ask incredulously.

"I've never been to New York before; my mom can't afford to take me. I've always wanted to see the Rangers there" he says.

"The hockey team?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's them. But you never answered my question, what's Broadway?" he says.

"It's the theatre district in New York where all the best musicals are performed" I say.

"And you want to perform there?" he asks.

"One day, when I'm older" I say.

"So if you want to be in musicals then you must be able to sing right?" he asks.

"Yes, I can. I've been singing since I was two years old" I say.

"I can sing a little. My mom's boyfriend taught me-until he dumped her for some other woman" he says.

"I'm sure I could help you improve your voice" I say.

"I'd like that" he says smiling.

"So what exactly can you do in Lima?" I ask.

"Well most of the time I hang out with my friend Puck playing video games and football" he says.

"You must do more than just that" I say.

"I play the drums as well. What did you do in New York?" he asks.

"I took singing, dancing and acting classes" I say.

"You didn't do anything else?" he asks.

"Me and my friends would go rollerblading in Central Park" I reply.

"I've never done that" he says.

"You've never been rollerblading before?" I ask.

"No, after I tripped and busted my face on the ice, skating when I was a little kid, my mom said that getting me rollerblades would be a danger to any poor person who happened to be in the way whilst I was using them" he says making me laugh.

"You could always come rollerblading with me" I suggest.

"That's okay Rach, I'm a danger to myself when I'm on two feet never mind wheels" he says.

"You called me Rach?" I ask.

"Doesn't everyone call you that?" he asks.

"No, you're the first one" I say.

"Well do you hate it?" he asks.

"No, I actually kind of like it. Most people just call me Rachel, it's nice to have a nickname" I say. The bus pulls up at Lima Middle School, and I'm almost sad because I was enjoying the bus ride with Finn.

"So this is it?" I ask.

"Yeah. Follow me, I'll help you find out where your classes are" he says.

"So how long have you been going here?" I ask.

"Since last year-our middle school's from 5th grade to 8th grade" he says. We walk into the school together and luckily I am in the same form as Finn, so we take seats in the back of the class and spend the whole of homeroom talking to each other. Then we are in different classes pretty much all day, so I don't see him again until lunch. He is so sweet, waiting for me outside my classroom.

"You didn't have to wait for me" I say.

"I wanted to" he says smiling. I notice that there is another boy standing next to him, with a mini Mohawk. It's kind of ridiculous, a Mohawk on an eleven year old.

"Who's this?" I ask.

"Oh this is my friend Puck, the one I was telling you about on the bus" he says.

"You talk about me to your girlfriend?" the Mohawk boy says, raising an eyebrow at Finn.

"She's not my girlfriend man. This is Rachel, she just moved here from New York. I met her on the bus this morning" he says.

"There is no way that Puck is your real name" I say staring straight at Puck.

"You're right, it's not. My name is Noah, my last name is Puckerman and everyone calls me Puck" he says.

"Why would you want to be called Puck, when you have a perfectly nice name like Noah?" I ask.

"Because Puck is cooler" he says.

"All the same, I think I'll call you Noah" I say.

"So Rachel can you play football?" he asks.

"No I can't" I say.

"Dude, she can't play football, what exactly are we supposed to do with her?" Noah asks.

"She's new to Lima, we could take her to the Shake Shack" he suggests.

"Oh yeah let's do that! They have the best burgers" Noah says.

"Actually, I can't eat meat-I'm a vegan" I say.

"You can have french fries" Finn says.

"But are they cooked in animal fat? I can't have any products that come from animals at all" I say.

"I don't know, I'm sure you can ask at the restaurant. If you can't eat them then I'm pretty sure the Shake Shack does veggie burgers" Finn says.

"How can you not eat meat?" Noah asks.

"Because killing animals is wrong. Besides it's not just meat-I can't eat anything that has any animal products in it" I say.

"So what do you eat?" Finn asks.

"Anything that doesn't contain animal products, there's more stuff than you think" I say.

"So are we going to the Shake Shack or not?" Noah asks.

"We can go" I say.

"Okay then let's go" Finn says.

"Wait, are we allowed to leave school for lunch?" I ask.

"The teachers are pretty mellow, they don't care if we leave as long as we get back in time for class" Noah says.

"Do you have money?" I ask.

"Of course, I have my weekly pocket money from my mom, so does Puck. I'll pay for yours of course" Finn says.

"Oh really, you don't have to" I say.

"No, I insist" he says.

"Well that's really sweet of you, thanks" I say. We walk along the road to the Shake Shack together, chatting like we've been friends forever. I find out that like me, Noah is Jewish and that he plays guitar. Finn and Noah also try to teach me the basic rules of football and I have to admit it's not a game that I'd like to play-it sounds far too rough for me.

"Well here we are-Lima's finest Shake Shack" Finn says.

"We have one of these in New York actually but I never went there" I say.

"You have been missing out big time Rach, although maybe if you don't eat meat then the Shake Shack isn't as good" Noah says.

"How can I help you?" the waitress behind the counter asks.

"Can we have two large chocolate milkshakes, two hamburgers and two fries please?" Finn asks.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asks.

"Do you have anything vegetarian? My friend here is a vegan" Finn says pointing at me.

"We have the 'Shroom Burger" the waitress says.

"Okay can we have one of those but without the cheese or the shack sauce?" Finn asks.

"So you want mushroom, lettuce and tomato on a bun?" she asks.

"Yeah that's right. Do you want fries Rach?" he asks.

"Better not, I don't know how they cook them" I say.

"So is that all?" she asks.

"Do you want a drink Rach?" he asks.

"I'll have bottled water" I say.

"How much is that?" Finn asks.

"That'll be $28.65" she says.

"Do you guys have enough?" I ask.

"I have $10, Puck?" Finn says.

"I have $10, do you have any Rach?" Noah asks me.

"I have $5 dollars from my dads" I say.

"So where are we going to get the extra three bucks from?" Finn asks.

Noah checks his pockets looking for spare change. "Yes! I found $5 in my pocket that I never knew I had! Isn't it great when that happens?" he says smiling.

We hand the cash over to the waitress and wait for our food. When it comes a few minutes later, we pick up the trays and walk to a booth in the back of the restaurant.

"Seriously Rachel how can you eat that? It's mushroom, tomato and lettuce on a burger bun-there isn't even any sauce on it!" Noah says.

"It's a lot healthier than the fat you're stuffing your faces with" I say.

"This is what eleven year olds are supposed to eat" Noah says.

"Well nothing had to die to make my burger now did it?" I say.

"It isn't even a burger!" Noah exclaims.

"We're never going to agree on this, so why don't you eat yours and I'll eat mine?" I say.

"Fine" he says.

"So where did you live in New York, Rach?" Finn asks.

"In an apartment in Park Slope in Brooklyn" I say.

"Is it nice?" he asks.

"Yeah it's great-my friends and I used to go rollerblading in Prospect Park all the time and we have good subway service so we could get into the city easily if we wanted to" I say.

"Have you ever been to an NFL game?" Noah asks excitedly.

"No, my dads used to get tickets from work though" I say.

"They're so lucky! I've been begging to get my mom to take me to a Browns game for years" Noah says.

"Yeah me too" Finn says.

"My dads are still with the same company they were with in New York, if they get any tickets to Browns games I can always see if you guys can go-they don't always use them" I say.

"That would be great Rach" Finn says smiling.

"No problem-my dads prefer theatre to football anyway-most of the time they'd exchange their football tickets with friends that have theatre tickets" I say.

"We're going to have to teach her to play football Finn" Noah says.

"That's not going to happen, football's dangerous" I say.

"I agree with Rachel, maybe we should teach her soccer instead-less chance of her getting knocked out that way" Finn says.

"I'd like that-soccer is what they play in England right?" I ask.

"Yeah, it is. It's a limited contact sport so it's not as dangerous as football which is a full contact sport" he says.

"And you guys play both football and soccer?" I ask.

"Yeah, we play football more often but we did soccer when we were younger" he says.

"Do you do any other sports other than football?" I ask.

"I do basketball. I play with the ninth graders because I'm taller than everyone on the sixth grade basketball team" Finn says.

"How about you? Do you do any sports Rachel?" Noah asks.

"I dance" I say making him laugh. "What's so funny?" I say.

"Dance isn't really a sport is it? Not in the same way that football is" Noah says.

"I think that's the beauty of dance though-it's a sport and an art. You can't say that dance isn't a sport because I bet I train just as hard as you do for football and it's hard work but it's expressive and beautiful like art" I say.

"What kind of dance do you do?" Noah asks.

"Ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, hip hop and ballroom" I say.

"When do you have time for anything else?" Finn asks me.

"I want to be on Broadway and if you want to be on Broadway you have to be good at everything-it's not enough for me to just have an incredible voice, I have to be able to act and dance well as well" I say.

"How long have you been doing all that for?" Finn asks.

"I've been doing ballet since I was four, I started doing jazz, contemporary and tap when I was six and I started doing modern, hip hop and ballroom when I was nine. I started singing when I was two like I told you earlier and I started taking acting classes when I was five" I say.

"So are you good?" Noah asks.

"At what, acting, dancing or singing?" I ask.

"All of it" Noah says.

"Yes I am" I say.

"Is that not being a little stuck up?" he asks.

"It's not stuck up if it's true-I've worked hard to be good at what I do, I've been training for years. It's like you and your football, I'm sure both you and Finn would say that you're good players because you've been training to be good for years, that's not being arrogant, it's recognising that you are skilled at your sport" I say.

"I guess" Noah says.

We finish our lunch, talking about my life in New York and what Finn and Noah like to do in Lima. We also talk about our favourite types of music, mine obviously being show tunes, whereas Finn and Puck prefer rock music.

"Shouldn't we be getting back to school?" I ask. Finn checks his watch.

"We usually get away with being late as long as we're not more than fifteen minutes late, but since it's your first day we'll leave early so we're back on time" Finn says.

"That's nice of you to do that for me" I say smiling. We walk back to school together, and Finn and Noah show me to my next class.

"I'll meet you outside the school entrance after school finishes yeah?" Finn asks.

"Yeah that would be nice" I say.

"See you later Rach" he says.

"See you later Finn, Noah" I say. I hear Noah make some crude joke about me and Finn, which makes me roll my eyes but despite myself laugh a little and then I walk into my class.

True to his word, Finn is there waiting for me at the end of school with Noah.

"Come on Rach, I want to introduce you to my mom" he says. He drags me over to a relatively tall woman with dark hair and eyes and a lovely warm smile.

"Mom, this is my new friend Rachel. She just moved here from New York. Rachel, this is my mom Carole Hudson" he says.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs Hudson" I say holding my hand out for her to shake but she pulls me in for a hug.

"Handshakes are far too formal. It's nice to meet you too Rachel, but you don't have to call me Mrs Hudson, you can call me Carole" she says.

"Okay, thanks Carole" I say.

"Have you invited Rachel around for dinner Finn?" she asks.

"No, I was just about to. Rach, would you like to come have dinner at our house?" he asks me.

"I would love to but I'd have to call my dads and let them know" I say.

"Not a problem sweetie, you can use the phone at our house" Carole says.

"Are you coming too Noah?" I ask.

"Are you kidding? I spend pretty much most of my time at Finn's house" he says.

"It's true-sometimes it's like I have two sons rather than one" Carole says.

"What do you think about having your first soccer lesson at my house Rach?" Finn asks.

"You're on" I say and the four of us head out of school towards Finn's house. My dads were right after all, I did meet some nice people at my new school and I have a feeling that Finn and I are going to be friends for a long time.

_4 years later_

_Finn_

It's my fifteenth birthday party today and all of my new friends from high school are coming but the one person I am really excited to see is Rachel. We've been practically inseparable since we met, but lately she's looked less like just my best friend Rachel and more like this beautiful girl who I'd really like to go out with. I mean I thought she was pretty when I first met her but now she's just stunning. But I'm sure to her that I'm just her friend Finn who she would never in a million years consider dating. The doorbell rings and I run excitedly downstairs, hoping that it's Rachel.

"Hi, Rach" I say, trying to stop myself from grinning when I open the door and see that it's her.

"Hey Finn, am I early?" she asks.

"You always are" I say. One of the things I love is that I know her so well-I know all the little things that some people find annoying but I just find cute.

"Happy Birthday" she says giving me a kiss on the cheek. I am never washing this cheek again I swear. I hope she didn't see the three different shades of red my face turned when she kissed my cheek.

"I've got a present for you" she says handing me an envelope. I open it to reveal 3 tickets to a Ranger's game in New York. I can't believe she remembered that when we first met, I said I'd always wanted to see the Rangers in New York.

"Rach this is way too much…..I can't believe you did this for me, these tickets must have cost you a fortune" he says.

"It cost me the whole of last summer's salary at the dance studio to pay for them but it was worth it. My dads said they would take you, me and Puck to New York for the game" I say.

"This is incredible-thank you so much Rach" I say. Maybe she does like me as more than a friend after all. No Finn, I tell myself, you shouldn't read into this more than it is-Rach is probably just being a really good friend-she's always got you nice things for your birthday.

"It's just as much for me and Noah as it is for you" she says.

"I can't believe you're the same girl I met four years ago. I mean you still do an insane amount of dance, more than even when I met you but the Rachel I met would never have been into hockey" I say.

"You and Noah got me into it, the same way you got me into soccer. I actually really enjoy playing" she says. Rach took up ice hockey when she was 12 after she saw her first NHL game on TV with me and Puck-I couldn't believe it at first, my friend who was afraid to play football took up a sport that was just as dangerous but she really seems to enjoy it. I tried playing with her once but it was a complete disaster as I tripped over my skates and rammed my head onto the ice, much like I did the first time I tried skating but I wanted to do it for her. Okay so maybe I've been in love with her for a long time and I only just realised it. It was so much easier when she was just my good friend Rach.

"So do you want to go upstairs and listen to some music?" I ask.

"Sure, we could practise some duets" she says. Since I met Rach, my singing has really improved and I love singing with her-we have really great musical chemistry. So that's what we do, we go upstairs and sing until the rest of my friends arrive. Most of my friends are jocks or cheerleaders, apart from Rach. When I first met them they made fun of the fact that Rach, Puck and I were friends but we made it clear that if they made fun of Rach then they would be in serious trouble and so now they at least attempt to get along with her.

When my friends arrive, we all go down into the basement.

"Let's play spin the bottle!" Quinn says. This makes me feel slightly awkward because I know Quinn has a crush on me and expects me to date her since I'm the Quarterback and she's head cheerleader. I've never looked at her that way though, I mean she's hot, but she's not attractive to me in the same way that Rachel is.

"Yeah spin the bottle sounds like fun" Puck says. He's probably only saying it because he wants to kiss the hot cheerleaders.

"Okay fine, we'll play spin the bottle" I say. I just hope that the bottle lands on Rach so I can actually kiss her properly. We sit in a circle and Quinn spins the bottle first. I cross my fingers that the bottle doesn't land on me; I don't want to encourage her crush. I am so relieved when the bottle lands on Puck instead and they have to kiss. Several more people spin the bottle, including Rachel-her spin lands on Puck and I clench my fist in jealousy but luckily Puck just gives her a quick peck on the lips. I shouldn't have thought he'd do anything different-he's always seen Rach as more of a little sister than someone he wants to sleep with.

Finally my turn to spin the bottle comes. I close my eyes as the bottle spins, hoping that the bottle lands on Rach. When I hear the bottle stop spinning, I open my eyes. I mentally cheer when I see that it's Rach.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asks.

"If you guys don't kiss in ten seconds then you have to French" Quinn reminds us. Maybe I should wait the ten seconds.

"Yeah, I'm sure" I say. We crawl towards each other and at first I just give her a small peck on the lips, but then she starts to deepen the kiss, flicking her tongue into my mouth so I kiss her back just as strongly. I don't know how long the kiss lasts but it's for at least a few minutes and it's one of the best kisses I've ever had.

"Okay, that's enough" Quinn says angrily separating us. Rachel flashes me a small smile, letting me know that she enjoyed the kiss just as much as I did.

"Yeah let the rest of us have a go" Santana says. She spins the bottle and it lands on Brittany. I don't think I've ever seen her blush so hard but when they kiss, it's not just a peck like Puck and Rachel, there's definite tongue.

"Can we do something else now? This is getting boring" Santana says. I think she just doesn't want anyone to comment on her obvious crush on Brittany since that kiss was not just a friendly one.

"How about we go and play a game of soccer?" I ask.

"I'd rather play seven minutes in heaven" Quinn says winking at me. When is she going to get the fact that I am not interested in her even a little? It's making Rachel jealous as well-she's never really liked Quinn but I swear she's been giving her a death glare ever since the party started. I don't think there's any doubt now that Rach likes me. She was the one who deepened our kiss and she definitely doesn't like the fact that Quinn has a crush on me.

"I think Finn's right, soccer sounds like fun" Rach says. Quinn's idea for seven minutes in heaven is voted down so we go out into the garden and play soccer. I spend most of the game watching Rach-it's amazing how good she's got in the four years since we started teaching her, she scores most of the goals on for our team. I notice Quinn shooting me evil eyes throughout the game-she can tell that I'm watching Rach but I don't care. She needs to know that I'm not into her like that.

We've been playing for about an hour or so when my mom calls us in for dinner. She got my favourite pizza-meat feast, along with a special vegan pizza for Rach. I tried to make sure that Puck got the seat next to me, but Quinn beat him to it so I have Quinn on one side and Rach on the other which makes things extremely awkward for me. I am trying to talk to Rach through dinner but Quinn keeps running her foot up my leg. When I swat it away, she starts running her hand through my hair and Rach is visibly uncomfortable.

"Stop it Quinn! I'm trying to eat here" I say. She takes her hand away and turns away from me moodily. I breathe a quiet sigh of relief and spend the rest of dinner talking happily to Rach.

My mom brings the cake out after we are finished with dinner-she's the best cook ever and I have to admit she topped herself this year with a three layered triple chocolate cake. They sing happy birthday to me and I blow out the candles. Then my mom hands me the knife to cut the cake.

"Make a wish Finny" she says.

I close my eyes and cut the cake. My wish is that when I ask Rach out that she will say yes. Maybe I should wish that Quinn would leave me alone but I want Rach to say yes to going out on a date with me more.

"What did you wish for?" she asks.

"I can't tell you that, or it won't come true" I say. I take a huge bite of the slice of cake on my plate.

"You've got a little bit of cream just there" Rach says, dabbing my face with a napkin. "It's gone now" she says.

"Thanks" I say, once again hoping she doesn't see how red my face turns. I just want everyone to leave so I can have a moment alone with Rach. After dinner we all go into the living room and watch a movie. Rach sits next to me and we play footsie throughout the entire movie. For once, Quinn seems to be leaving me alone-I'm hoping it sticks.

Everyone except Rach leaves after the movie finishes. Her dads are picking her up from my house a little later. We go and sit on the porch swing at the front of my house.

"So that kiss…." she says.

"Was completely incredible" I say, hoping that's the end to that sentence.

"Yes it was. See the thing is Finn, I've kind of had a crush on you for a while now and I was wondering how you felt about it" she says.

"I'm really glad you feel the same way as me" I say.

"You mean you like me too?" she asks.

"Are you kidding? You're amazing Rach-you're funny and smart and you have a beautiful voice. You can skate circles around most of the guys on the school hockey team and you can play soccer. You're the most beautiful dancer I've ever seen, not to mention that you're incredibly pretty. Who wouldn't like you?" I ask.

"But isn't Quinn more your type?" she asks.

"No way! Would Quinn have saved up all that money to get tickets to a Ranger game? Quinn probably wouldn't even have remembered me telling her that I always wanted to go. Besides she's just hot, you're beautiful-that's way better" I say.

"So you don't like Quinn?" she asks.

"No way Rach. I like you" I say.

"Well I like you too" she says. She leans forward and kisses me again.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me on Friday" I say.

"I would love to but aren't you worried that our dating might ruin our friendship?" she says.

"I think that our friendship can only help, we already know each other so well, so it's not like we're starting from scratch" I say.

"Well we can only try and see right?" she says.

"Right" I say.

"In which case I would love to go out on date with you on Friday" she says.

"I have a football match that afternoon but I was thinking you could come and watch me play, then we could go for dinner and a movie in the evening" I say.

"Sounds good, I'm looking forward to it already" she says.

"Me too" I say. A horn sounds, indicating that Rach's dads are here.

"I'd better go" she says.

"Do I not get one more birthday kiss before you go?" I ask.

"You are being rather spoilt this birthday Finn, Rangers tickets and several birthday kisses" she says.

"Do I not deserve it?" I ask.

"Yeah you do" she says, kissing me one last time before she runs to the car. She waves at me as her dads are reversing out of our drive.

It's funny how much can change in the space of a day-this morning Rach was nothing more than my best friend who I have known for four years and had a crush on but now she's Rach, the girl I am going on a date with on Friday night.

_Friday_

I am getting ready for the big game in the McKinley High changing rooms. I'm quite surprised that Rach hasn't come in here to wish me luck yet but there's still time. The door to the changing room swings open and I hope that it's Rach but when I turn around, I see Quinn standing there in her cheerleading uniform.

"I wanted to come in here and wish you luck" she says.

"Thank you" I say backing away from her.

"You know everyone thinks that we should become an item. The Quarterback and the head cheerleader, we'd be the power couple of this school" she says.

"Thanks Quinn, but I'm kind of already seeing someone" I say.

"That short, big nosed Jewish girl? That will never last Finn" she says.

"She's my best friend Quinn, I've known her a lot longer than you. Besides I think Rachel is really pretty" I say.

"Someone clearly needs to get you glasses" she says.

"She's not your typical beauty but she is beautiful" I say.

"But I'm more beautiful. Think of the chemistry we could have Finn. We would be electric" she says stepping closer towards me.

"Quinn, I just don't like you like that" I say.

"We'll see" she says. She pushes me up against the wall and kisses me aggressively on the mouth. I don't kiss her back though, I don't want to lead her on. She flounces out of the door looking pretty pleased with herself.

I turn and see Rachel standing in the doorway.

"Rach it wasn't what you think! She kissed me not the other way around. I didn't kiss her back, I promise" I say.

"I thought you didn't like her" she says.

"I don't. I like you Rach, I've always liked you" I say.

"She wouldn't have kissed you if you hadn't led her on" she says.

"Yes she would have. Quinn does what she wants, no one can stop her" I say.

"I don't believe you" she says.

"Have I ever lied to you?" I ask.

"No, I guess you haven't" she says.

"So please stay and watch the game and then we can have our amazing date afterwards" I say.

"Okay" she says but she still doesn't look like she's fully forgiven me. I pick my helmet up and give her a quick kiss.

"I'll see you afterwards" I say.

"Yeah, I'll see you" she says but she doesn't look completely happy. She heads towards the bleachers and I join my teammates for the start of the game.

We play really well, having Rach there cheering me on improves my game no end. She looks like she has cheered up from earlier as well. Each time I score a touchdown, I point to her in the stands so everyone knows including Quinn that she's the girl I'm with. The first half goes off without a hitch and we are up by 3 touchdowns by the end of the half. The cheerleaders come out for the half time show and Quinn won't stop making eyes at me. I try to ignore it though.

The second half starts and that's when everything goes to hell-not with the game, but with Quinn and Rachel. I score the first touchdown of the half and out of nowhere Quinn comes running out onto the field and kisses me in front of everyone. I watch in horror as Rach runs from the stands crying.

"You're going to have to take over from me as Quarterback this half okay?" I say, handing my helmet to the sub for our team. I run off the field, hoping to catch Rach before she leaves.

"Rach, wait!" I yell.

"Nothing there huh? I saw you kiss her again and you looked like you were enjoying it" she says.

"It meant nothing to me!" I yell.

"I would leave but I can't because I don't have a car or a license and I'd have to wait for my dads to pick me up anyway" she says.

"Don't go" I say.

"I have to. It was silly of me to think that a guy like you was meant to be with a girl like me. You belong with a girl like her" she says.

"No, I belong with the girl I've been best friends with for the past four years" I say. We stand there in silence, just staring at each other for a few minutes. Then there's a rumble of thunder and rain starts pouring down.

"This is the sort of moment in one of those romantic movies you love, where the couple would have this great romantic kiss" she says.

"Really?" I ask.

"Maybe you should go find Quinn and kiss her again" she says.

"The only girl I want to kiss is standing right here in front of me" I say. She wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Then we kiss, the most amazing, incredible kiss I've ever had-even better than our first one.

"Do you believe me now? That you're the only girl for me?" I ask.

"I do. But if she ever kisses you again then I will kick her ass" she says.

"I think I can agree to those terms" I say.

"Shouldn't you get back out there for the game?" she asks.

"The sub has taken over from me. What do you say we get out of here and catch that movie?" I ask.

"I'd love that but how are we going to get there?" she asks.

"We can walk" I say.

"In this?" she asks.

"I have an umbrella in my locker, I'll run and get it" I say. I quickly run to my locker and grab the umbrella before returning to Rach.

I put up the umbrella and we both stand under it. I take her hand and we walk to the movie theatre together.

"Am I really the only girl for you?" she asks.

"Definitely" I say kissing her again.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Your four choices of song for next chapter are Come Back….Be Here, Fearless, Mine or The Story of Us. It's my half term break but I have exams after half term so I'm not sure how much writing I'll get done. I also want to update my other stories because I know I haven't updated in a while-Coming Home will definitely be updated first (after this one of course) as I've already written some of the next chapter for that, then New Directions: Take Two as I've got an idea for the next chapter of that, then Back To The Start: New Directions 2.0, then Our Vow Of Love and then Moving On:Senior Year (I'm not sure when that will be though) and they won't all be updated this week-I promise I haven't abandoned any of my other stories though-I'll never do that.

Review?


	5. Mine

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, I'm so glad everyone still seems to like this story. The vote for which song to base this chapter on was tied so I chose the one that I had the best idea of what I was going to write for. In this one shot, Finn and Rachel both grew up in Ohio but they went to different high schools so they never met and Rachel's family history is a little different to canon.

"_Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water?_

_You put your arm around me for the first time._

_You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter._

_You are the best thing that's ever been mine" _

_-Mine, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 5: You are the best thing that's ever been mine

_Finn_

"Finn can you take this to table 5 for me please?" my friend Quinn asks, handing me a plate.

"But table 5 is in your section, why do I have to do it? Please tell me it's not another one of your ex-boyfriends" I say.

"No this is actually for you. Do you remember me telling you about Rachel Berry?" she asks.

"I think so. You were friends with her in high school?" I say.

"That's the one. Anyway I haven't seen her in years but she's here in New York and I think you'd really like her, so can you take this to her table?" Quinn says.

I shrug, pick up the plate and walk over to table 5. I've been working in this diner for two years, to help pay for my education degree at NYU and I haven't met a girl I've liked yet, but if this girl was one of Quinn's friends then she's probably not as creepy as some of the girls I've met in here. She's reading a newspaper when I go over to her table. I put the food down, causing her to look up.

"Wow" I say, immediately covering my mouth out after I speak. I didn't actually mean to say it out loud. It's just this girl is probably the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She's not the most conventional beauty, with her larger than average nose, but it suits her. She has the most beautiful big brown eyes and brown wavy hair and a lovely smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment" she says putting down her paper.

"You really should. You're just so beautiful" I say.

"You think so? Most people tell me that my nose is way too big" she says.

"I think it suits you" I say.

"Well thank you….uh I'm sorry I don't know your name" she says.

"It's Finn, Finn Hudson" I say.

"Thank you Finn. I'm Rachel Berry" she says.

"I know" I say smiling shyly.

"How do you know who I am?" she asks, sounding slightly suspicious.

"Oh, I'm not creepy or anything. Quinn Fabray works here and she told me who you were" I say.

"I haven't seen Quinn in years-I really should call her" she says.

"I'm not usually this forward with girls that I meet in diners but would you like to have dinner with me tonight? Not here, somewhere nicer" I say.

"That would be nice. I'll give you my address and you can pick me up at eight? If that's okay for you, I don't know what time you get off work" she says.

"Eight is fine" I say. She takes out a pen from her purse and writes her address down on a napkin.

"I'll see you tonight" she says handing it to me. Her handwriting is so cute, especially the way she does little hearts over her i's. I can't stop myself from cheering as I walk away from her table, but I hear her laughing so I hope she thinks it's cute.

"So how did it go?" Quinn asks when I come back behind the counter.

"I have a date for this evening! Man I haven't planned anything" I say.

"When are you taking her out?" she asks.

"At eight" I say.

"Well you could always make a picnic for her and take her to Long Island-it won't take you that long to get there on the railroad and it would be really romantic" she says.

"That would all be great, but I'm trying to impress this girl and you've tasted my cooking Quinn, it does not impress people, it kills them!" I say.

"I'll make the food when I get off my shift and bring it round" she says.

"Did I ever tell you that you are the best?" I ask.

"Not nearly often enough" she says, picking up more plates for other tables.

_Evening_

I knock on the door to Rachel's apartment in Bushwick at exactly eight o'clock. I don't know if she's someone who likes to be on time but I figured it would impress her if I was.

"Hey" she says. It takes me a few seconds to retrieve my mouth from the floor because she looks so beautiful. She's wearing a short strapless black dress and small black heels and her hair is in loose curls around her shoulders.

"I take it from your reaction that you like the way I look" she says smiling.

"You look incredible" I say.

"A man who's on time, I like that" she says taking my arm.

"I was hoping that you would" I say.

"So where are we going tonight?" she asks.

"Long Island, I thought it would be romantic to have our first date on the beach" I say.

"That sounds great" she says, grabbing her coat. We take a taxi from her apartment to the station, chatting about our degree courses. I learn that she is a second year student like me but she is a performing arts student at NYADA and I tell her about my Education course at NYU. She seems particularly interested when I tell her that I want to specialise in Music Education.

"That's really cool that you want to teach music-if I didn't want to be a Broadway actress that's something I would consider doing" she says.

"My glee club teacher was really inspiring-I wanted to inspire kids in the same way that he inspired me" I say.

"You were in glee club when you were in high school? That's so weird, I was too" she says.

"Yeah I was in the New Directions at McKinley High" I say.

"I can't believe we never ran into each other at competitions-I was in Vocal Adrenaline at Carmel High" she says.

"I swear I would have remembered seeing someone so beautiful" I say.

"We must just have never crossed paths" she says. I don't think she's taken notice of my comment, but she does have a slight smile on her face.

"So you come from Ohio too? Where in Ohio did you grow up?" I ask.

"I grew up in Akron with my aunt" she says.

"Your aunt? Not your parents?" I ask. Maybe I'm prying a little too much here but I really do just want to get to know her.

"My mom and my dad married when they were eighteen, but my dad realised he was gay and divorced her when I was nine. He married this other guy but my mom had custody of me. She never really wanted to be a mom, she wanted to be a broadway star so when this opportunity in New York came up she gave legal custody of me to my aunt and left me in Ohio with her" she says.

"What about your dad, why didn't she just sign over custody to him?" I ask.

"She wanted to spite him I guess" she says.

"Do you still see your parents?" I ask.

"I see my dad and his partner all the time-the guy he married is actually really nice and they've always been very supportive of me and my career. My mom not so much, I see her twice a year at Christmas and Thanksgiving and I think it's more out of courtesy than anything else. We never have much to talk about" she says.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that" I say.

"I got over it a long time ago" she says, though the look on her face says she clearly didn't. "So what about your family?" she asks.

"My family's pretty normal-I lived in Lima but I couldn't wait to leave, it's not the nicest place in the world. My dad died when I was a baby so it was just my mom and me until I was sixteen. Then she married my stepfather Burt. I didn't like it at first, but Burt's a great guy and he's made my mom really happy. My stepbrother Kurt had a crush on me for a while which made things kind of awkward but we're friends now" he says.

"You have a stepbrother?" she asks.

"Yeah, he goes to NYADA too-actually I think he's a sophomore like you" I say.

"What's his last name?" she asks.

"Hummel, Kurt Hummel" I say.

"You're kidding? He's one of my best friends" she says.

"I can't believe he's never introduced me to you before. He did mention that he was friends with a girl named Rachel at NYADA but he didn't say it was you" I say.

"Well then I guess we're lucky that Quinn noticed me in the diner and sent you over to our table" she says.

"I guess we are" I say. "So how long have you known Quinn for?" I ask.

"Her family lived next door to my aunt so we met when I was nine and we've been friends ever since. I hadn't seen her since senior year of high school since yesterday though, I didn't even know she was in New York" she says.

"How come?" I ask.

"We went to different colleges and just lost touch" she says.

"You said you moved in with your aunt after your parents got divorced?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's right" she says.

"So where did you and your parents live before that?" I ask.

"My dad works at a law firm in Columbus, we lived there" she says.

We arrive at the Atlantic Terminal of the Long Island Railroad and I hand over the money to the cab driver.

"I could have contributed to the fare" she protests.

"It's our first date, I want to treat-that means I'll pay for the train tickets as well" I say.

"Are you sure? I feel bad letting you pay for everything" she says.

"Don't feel bad, I want to" I say. We get our tickets for the train and take the next train out to Long Island. We don't stop talking the entire train ride, I share stories about the kids I've had to teach as part of my teacher training and she shares stories about auditions she's been on and her crazy dance teacher from NYADA. I almost can't believe it's been an hour's train journey when we arrive on Long Island. We walk down to the beach together and she kicks off her shoes as soon as we reach the beach and I do the same.

"Do you have food? I'm starving" she says.

"Yes" I say bringing out the picnic basket. I lay the blanket on the ground and take out the foil covered plates from the basket. "Dig in" I say handing her a plastic fork. Quinn really has outdone herself this time-spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread and chocolate cake for desert. There's even salad which I assume is for Rachel, because she knows I don't eat salad and a bottle of wine in a cooler.

"This is amazing. Tell Quinn thank you for me" she says after taking a mouthful of spaghetti.

"How did you know Quinn made it?" I ask.

"We've been friends for years; I know what her food tastes like. I'm guessing you're not much of a cook?" she says.

"I burn toast-the only thing I can make is pancakes. I would have made dinner myself, but giving a woman food poisoning is not exactly what you want on a first date. Are you mad I didn't make it myself?" I say.

"Not at all-Quinn's food is amazing" she says eating another mouthful of spaghetti. "Besides it's probably best you didn't cook for me-Quinn knows what I can and can't eat" she says.

"What can't you eat?" I ask.

"Anything with animal products-I'm a vegan" she says.

"But you're eating meatballs?" I ask confused. Meatballs are meat, and if she doesn't eat animal products then she can't eat meat right?

"They're vegan meatballs" she says.

"But they taste normal?" I ask.

"Just because it's not real meat, doesn't mean it can't taste good" she says.

"Yeah but you would expect that fake meat would taste weird, not like actual meat" I say.

"I don't know what real meat tastes like-I've always been a vegan so I've never tried it" she says.

"Really? You gave up meat without even having tried it first?" I ask.

"My dad said the first time he ever gave me meat that I threw my plate across the room and screamed" she says.

"And now?" I ask.

"I'm a vegan out of ethical principles-I don't think it's right to kill animals" she says.

"I can't imagine living without anything made from animal products-how do you eat? Nearly everything has animal products in it" I say.

"It's not easy but I make it work" she says. We finish eating our spaghetti and garlic bread then I pass her a plate with a slice of chocolate cake. She scoops some of the chocolate icing off with her fingers and smears it over my face.

"Hey" I say but she just smiles and looks innocent. I take some of the icing off my own slice of cake and smear it on her face.

"Oh it's on" she says and we throw cake at each other, playfully chasing each other around the beach trying to dodge the flying cake. I tackle her to the ground, tickling her.

"I surrender" she shrieks holding her hands up in the air.

"You've got a little bit of cake, just there" I say, wiping away the cake before leaning in to kiss her. She kisses me back just as deeply, and for several minutes we just lie there kissing.

"Well that was a great first kiss" she says when we finally pull away from each other.

"It really was. Let's hope the second one is just as good" she says kissing me again. "You've still got chocolate cake all around your face, you know" she says handing me a napkin.

"So have you" I say laughing. Her face turns red and she wipes the chocolate away with a napkin.

"Is it gone?" she asks.

"Yes. You know as fun as that cake fight was, it's a shame we wasted all that cake by not eating it" I say.

"Let's go check, there might be more in the basket" she says running back over to where our picnic is. She smiles triumphantly when she finds more cake in the basket. We sit back down and actually eat our cake this time. After I've packed away the dishes we lie on the picnic blanket together, me with my arm around her and we watch the city lights hitting the water and the stars in the sky.

"Long Island really is beautiful at night" she says.

"I thought you'd like it" I say.

"Do you come here a lot?" she asks.

"My family has a house in Montauk, so we come here every summer" I say.

"I bet it's beautiful" she says.

"It is. I'd like you to see it one day" I say.

"I'd like that too" she says smiling. She looks over at the water and gets up, sliding out of her dress. My mouth drops open when I see her in her underwear. "You like?" she asks.

"I like a lot" I say.

"It's your turn now" she says.

"I don't know" I say nervously.

"What's the matter? I'm sure you have a great body" she says.

"I know but I'm just a little self-conscious. Is that weird?" I ask.

"No I think it's adorable. But you don't need to be self-conscious, the only person here is me" she says. I shyly unbutton my shirt and pull off my pants so like her I am just in my underwear.

"I was right. You have absolutely no reason to be embarrassed" she says, gently stroking my abs.

"So do you want to go swimming?" I ask. She nods and I take her hand. We run towards the water together and she screams as I playfully splash water on her. This has been the best first date I've ever had and I just know that Rachel and I will be spending a lot more time together.

_2 years later_

Rach and I have been dating for two years now. We both graduated from school this year-I'm a teacher at a public high school and Rachel has been auditioning for every single Broadway role going-she hasn't got her big break yet but I'm sure she will soon. She spends more time at my apartment than at her own; she even has a drawer of things at my place. We're lying on the couch in my apartment when I decide it's the right time to ask her what I've been wanting to for weeks now but haven't been able to work up the courage to.

"So what do you want to watch another movie or do you want to put the football on? I don't mind which" she says.

"Move in with me" I say.

She drops her glass, spilling water all over the floor. "Are you sure?" she asks.

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't" I say.

"But how can we afford it? Your salary as a teacher isn't much and I'm not exactly pulling in the big bucks waitressing until I get my big break on Broadway" she says.

"It's supposed to be cheaper, two people living in the same apartment. Do you not want to move in with me Rach?" I say.

"No, of course I do. I was just shocked that's all" she says.

"So is that a yes?" I ask, trying not to cross my fingers.

"Yes, I will move in with you" she says, pushing me back down on the couch.

"So are we watching that movie or the football?" I ask.

"Forget the movie Finn, we're going to celebrate" she says kissing me hard on the lips.

_Moving Day_

"Come on Finn, put your back into it" Rach says, sitting on the front step to my apartment building.

"Are you just going to sit there or are you actually going to help?" Kurt asks Rach grumpily. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to ask Kurt to help move Rachel's boxes into my apartment, all he's done all morning is complain.

"I think I'll leave the men to it" she says smirking happily.

"I chipped a nail moving your boxes" Kurt says.

"There's only one more box left Kurt" Rachel says.

"Don't worry, I'll take it up" I say coming back down after taking the last box up into the apartment.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asks.

"Yes, I'm sure. Thank you for your help Kurt" I say.

"Thank you!" he says clearly happy not to have to move any more boxes. He hails a taxi and rushes off before we can ask him to help move the last box.

"Sorry about that, I thought he'd want to help but I should have known that he wouldn't like to do anything that would ruin his manicure" I say.

"It's alright, besides he did help-he might have complained whilst doing it but almost all of my boxes are in your apartment" she says.

"Except for this last one" I say taking the box out of the back of the van. We walk up the stairs together and she unlocks the door with her new key. I put the box down on the floor with the other ones.

"So should we start moving your stuff into our bedroom?" I ask.

"No, let's do that later" she says.

"What are we going to do now?" I ask. She takes my hand and leads me over to the bedroom.

"Celebrate" she says slamming the door.

_The fight_

"I can't do this anymore Finn!" Rach yells. We've been living together for a year now and we've been happy but the bills are piling up. Rach got an understudy role in the revival of Funny Girl but it doesn't pay nearly enough, neither does my job as a teacher.

"Things will work out Rach, I promise" I say.

"I can't keep living on a shoestring, we have to pay our bills or we're going to lose this apartment" she yells.

"Will you please stop yelling Rach?" I ask.

"Have you seen this pile of overdue bills?" she yells.

"I've seen them-do you not think it's tearing me up that I can't provide enough money to support you?" I ask.

"Well do something about it!" she yells.

"I'm already working as many hours as humanly possible, I can't do anything more than I am doing. Maybe you need to find a real job" I say.

"You did not just say that" she says offended.

"Well maybe it would be better if you found a job that actually paid-I mean your job as an understudy doesn't exactly rake in money" I say.

"You know how much my dream means to me! I've been dreaming about this since I was a little girl" she yells.

"I know Rach. I'm not saying you should give up your dream-I'm saying that you should try to find some work that makes a little more money whilst you're waiting to achieve your dream" I say.

"Well maybe I don't want to do that" she says.

"Well maybe you don't have choice" I reply.

"I always have choices" she says slamming the door and storming out of the apartment.

_Rachel_

I run away from the apartment as fast as I can but I don't have anywhere to go. It's half past two in the morning so all I can do is walk around the block and come back to the apartment when I'm less angry. Finn knows how much my dreams mean to me-I would never suggest that he did something other than being a teacher just because it paid more money because I know how much he loves teaching his kids. Just like I love being on a stage, and it will happen for me one day. Maybe this was inevitable, that we would eventually break up. It happened to my parents-I mean I know that my father left my mother because he was gay but even if he hadn't my mother would have left him. She was ambitious like I am, and she wasn't happy just playing wife to my dad. If he hadn't left then she would have. It seems like everyone in my life leaves me-my mom abandoned me, my dad wanted another man more than he wanted me and I haven't seen my aunt since she moved to England two years ago, but the one person I never thought would leave is Finn. I guess he hasn't, I have but he's going to leave just like everyone else in my life has. I lean against the wall of the nearest building and break down crying. I don't hear the footsteps coming towards me.

"Rach?" a voice says. I look up and through my tears I see Finn, standing over me.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you" I say. He holds out a hand to help me up and I take it.

"I'm sorry Rach. I should never have made it seem like your dreams aren't important to me, they are" he says.

"I'm sorry too. I overreacted when I saw all the bills and I know how hard you work at that school" I say.

"Well I'm going to try to find a job at a private school, they pay better" he says.

"Don't you dare! You love working at that school, helping disadvantaged kids achieve their dreams. I won't take that away from you" I say.

"Well what are we going to do?" he asks.

"What do you mean we? I thought you were going to leave me" I say.

"Rach, I promise I'll never leave you. We aren't going to be like your parents-I won't make you give up your dreams for me" he says.

"Then what are we going to do?" I ask.

"We will figure something out. If I have to, then I'll ask my mom for a short term loan" he says.

"I can't ask you to do that. I was being unreasonable before" I say.

"So what are you saying?" he asks.

"I'm not saying that I will give up my job as an understudy" I say.

"I wouldn't want you to do that. I should never have suggested you did" he says.

"But you're right. You work so hard to support me and I should contribute too. Ms Tibideaux offered me a part time assistant position to the vocal teacher at NYADA" I say.

"How long ago was this?" he asks.

"A few months ago. I turned her down at the time, but we need the money and it's unfair of me to make you take most of the burden. They really want me for the position-she even offered to work the classes around my schedule" I say.

"Well that sounds perfect. Are you sure you want this though Rach?" he says.

"I want to make sure that we can keep the apartment-the extra money I get from this job will help us pay our bills and then we won't have to ask your mom for a loan" I say.

"She won't mind" he replies.

"I know she won't but I don't want to owe your parents money" I say.

"If you're happy then I'm happy" he says.

I give him a hug. "All I need to be happy is you. Not matter how much money we have, no matter what my job is, you are what makes me happy" I say.

"That's good" he says.

"I'm glad you think so" I say.

"I've been thinking about the perfect time to do this and I think it's now" Finn says, a serious look on his face.

"A perfect time to do what?" I ask.

He bends down on one knee and I cover my mouth in shock. I can't believe he's doing what I think he's doing.

"Rachel Berry, I love you. You're the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful girl I've ever known and I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. Will you marry me?" he asks, opening a black velvet box containing the most beautiful engagement ring I've ever seen. It has a heart shaped diamond with little diamonds all around the ring which is silver.

"How did you afford this?" I ask. I know I shouldn't but it just slips out of my mouth.

"It was my mother's engagement ring-the one my dad gave to her. She gave it to me to give to my future wife so it didn't cost me a thing. So about that question?" he says.

"Yes" I say.

"Yes?" he asks.

"Yes, Finn Hudson, I would love to be your wife" I say giving him a huge kiss. He slides the ring onto my finger.

"Do you like it?" he asks.

"I love it, it's gorgeous" I say.

"Good because I was worried you might want to pick out your own ring" he says.

"This ring is perfect" I say.

"Did you see the inscription?" he asks.

"No" I say sliding the ring off my finger and look at the inscription.

_You are the best thing that's ever been mine. Finn xxx_

"It's beautiful" I say, trying to keep myself from crying.

"I love you Rach" he says.

"I love you too, Finn" I say kissing him again.

"I've heard that post-engagement sex is supposed to be pretty great" he says.

"I've heard that too" I say winking.

"Do you care to test that theory?" he asks.

"I would love to" I say. He sweeps me up into his arms and carries me all the way back up to our apartment and we spend the night celebrating our engagement. The theory is right-post-engagement sex is pretty great.

_1 year later_

_The wedding_

I take a look at my reflection in the mirror for what feels like the hundredth time that day. This feels like some kind of dream-I never imagined that I'd be lucky enough to marry someone that I love as much as Finn. I should feel nervous, and I do but it's more excited anticipation. I felt that first day in the diner that Finn was someone special and I'm so glad that I was right. It's hard to believe that a little argument about money almost ruined it all now. I finally got my big break on Broadway shortly after Finn proposed and he got a promotion to head of the music department at his school, so we don't need to worry about money anymore. But even if we did it wouldn't matter because all I want is Finn. I hear a knock at the door.

"Come in" I call.

"Hey, they're all waiting for you. Are you ready?" the voice asks.

"As I'll ever be" I say, turning to face Quinn who's my bridesmaid. After I started dating Finn we got to see a lot more of each other and we're back to being as close as we were when we were kids.

"You look absolutely beautiful" Quinn says. I've never felt more beautiful in my life. My dress is simple but elegant-I've never been one for extravagant clothes, it is a sleeveless, knee length white chiffon layered dress-I didn't want a floor length dress and this one just felt perfect when I put it on. I'm wearing a short veil and small white heels as well.

"Thank you. For everything" I say.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"If it weren't for you asking Finn to wait on my table that day then we'd never be getting married today" I say.

"You're welcome. I've never met two people who deserve each other more" she says hugging me. She hands me my bouquet of white roses. "Finn gave me this to give to you" she says handing me a box. It contains a silver star shaped pendant.

"It's beautiful. Can you put it on for me?" I ask. Quinn puts the necklace around my neck.

"Perfect. Let's go Mrs Hudson" she says.

"I'm not Mrs Hudson quite yet" I say laughing.

"Well let's go change that" she says laughing along with me. She pulls the veil over my face and we get into the carriage that is waiting outside the apartment building. I stayed in our apartment last night whilst Finn stayed with Kurt so that we didn't see each other the night before the wedding. Quinn helps me into the carriage and then we are off. The carriage soon pulls up at Central Park. My dads are there waiting to walk me down the aisle. They take an arm each. The music to our favourite song Faithfully plays as I walk down the aisle and I have to try very hard not to cry so that my makeup doesn't run. Before I know it, we are under the Chuppah. I give each of my dads a kiss on the cheek, hand my flowers to Quinn and then take Finn's hands.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join Rachel Barbra Berry and Finn Christopher Hudson in holy matrimony. They have written their own vows which they will share with you now" the minister says.

"Rachel, I can honestly say you are the best thing that's ever happened to me. I knew I loved you from our first date when we sat watching the lights hit the water on Long Island Sound and from that moment on, I've known that there's no one else I would want to be with other than you. I love you with all my heart" he says.

Then it's my turn. I had a difficult time writing my vows because I didn't know the words to express how much I love Finn. I've always been better at singing other people's words than saying my own. "My relationship with Finn always reminded me of this song I loved when I was a teenager-we've had our fights and our ups and downs but at the end of the day we love each other and that's all that matters. No amount of money or fame could ever make me as happy as Finn Hudson does because he's the most special person I've ever met and the one thing I know that I truly cannot live without. He is quite simply, the best thing that's ever been mine and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him because I love him more than anything else in the entire world" I say. I know Finn caught the reference to the inscription on my engagement ring because he's starting to tear up. I am a little too but I have to stop myself so I don't ruin my makeup.

"Finn Christopher Hudson, do you take Rachel Barbra Berry to be your lawful wedded wife?" the minister asks.

"I do" he says.

"Rachel Barbra Berry do you take Finn Christopher Hudson, to be your lawful wedded husband?" the minister asks.

"I do" I say.

"Can I have the rings please?" the minister asks. The minister hands Finn's ring to me and gives my ring to Finn. We have both written inscriptions on the rings and smile as we read what the other has written.

_-All my love forever. Finn xxx_

_-I'm forever yours, faithfully. Rachel xxx_

Finn slides my ring gently onto my hand and I slide his ring onto his.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride" the minister says.

Finn doesn't hesitate in pulling me into his arms and kissing me. We then place the glass we chose together onto the ground and smash it as part of the Jewish aspect of the ceremony.

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you for the first time as husband and wife, Mr and Mrs Finn Hudson" the minister says. Everyone stands and cheers, as we make our way back down the aisle arm in arm. I smile as I'm walking down the aisle.

"What are you smiling about?" Finn asks.

"Just about how lucky I am to be Mrs Hudson" I say.

"Oh trust me Mrs Hudson, I'm the lucky one" he says.

A/N: So there you have it-chapter five. I'm glad I did this one because Finchel weddings are one of my absolute favourite things in the world to write. I've finished my exams now so I hope that I may be able to write a little quicker. Your choices for the next chapter of the story are-Enchanted, Starlight, Tim McGraw and The Other Side of The Door.

Review?


	6. I was enchanted to meet you

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad you guys still seem to be enjoying this. This one will be based around a masquerade ball and will be set in New York-instead of growing up in Ohio, in this one shot, Finn and Rachel have both grown up in New York but they went to different schools and have never met.

"_This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you" _

_-Enchanted, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 6: I was enchanted to meet you

_Rachel_

I take one last look in the mirror adjusting my mask. This is the first masquerade ball I've ever been invited to. It's at Quinn Fabray's mansion-her parents probably forced her to invite me because I never get invited to these high society parties-my dads might live in Brooklyn Heights, one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in the outer boroughs, but Quinn Fabray lives on the Upper East Side and she hates so called "Brooklyn scum" like me. Still I'm invited and I won't turn that down. I had to save up my salary for months to afford my dress but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome-my pale pink ball gown with a black and white bodice and matching pink mask looks pretty good. It won't be as nice as the dresses that the Upper East side princesses had custom designed and flown in from Paris but I don't care. I put the mask on, being careful not to ruin my curls and slip on my heels. I smile when I see that my dads have ordered me a limousine to take me to the ball. At least now I don't have to be embarrassed, being the girl who turns up in a taxi.

Quinn's mansion is incredible-it's the biggest place I've ever seen and looks like a place that royalty would live in. It has four floors and is completely white-maybe it's made of marble or something, I don't know. It has huge pillars all around the house and french windows. I swear the door to their mansion looks like it's made out of actual gold. The driver helps me out of the limousine, and awestruck, I make my way over to the mansion.

"Name, please?" the man outside the huge double doors asks.

"Rachel Berry" I say. He ticks my name off the list and opens the door to allow me in. I can barely believe it-for once I'm actually allowed in to one of the elite's exclusive parties. The inside of the house is just as impressive as the outside-everything is in either white or gold and I swear the ballroom probably costs more than my family's entire apartment, with a marble floor, huge spiral staircases leading down to the dance floor, marble walls and huge crystal chandeliers.

I don't know anyone here-they're all Upper East Side high society teenagers, we don't exactly run in the same circles. I make my way through the crowd of dancing people to the bar.

"I'll have champagne please" I say to the bartender. He pours a glass of champagne and hands it to me. I look at my watch. It's only nine and I have to stay here till midnight. Through the crowd, my eyes meet the eyes of a tall handsome stranger. I flash a small smile at him which he returns.

"Have we met?" a voice asks behind me. I turn around and there is the handsome stranger that I was staring at. He's even more beautiful up close than he was through the crowd of people. He is extremely tall, much taller than me, with dark hair and eyes.

"No. How did you get over here so quickly?" I ask.

"It wasn't that quick" he says.

"Yeah it was, I was just staring at you and then you were over here" I reply.

"Maybe I was just desperate to meet you" he says.

"How long did it take you to work on that line?" I ask.

"As long as it took me to walk over here" he says, making me laugh.

"Maybe you should give yourself a little more time to work on a line next time" I say.

"I'll think about that" he says.

"What's your name? We've been talking for a few minutes already and you haven't introduced yourself" I say.

"My name's Finn Hudson, and you are?" he replies, holding out his hand for me to shake.

"Rachel Berry" I say shaking his hand.

"I haven't seen you around before" he says.

"Really? Because you asked me if we had met before?" I ask.

"I meet a lot of girls and they usually get angry if I don't remember them. I was just checking that I didn't remember you because I actually hadn't met you" he says.

"Well sure, it must be hard being a rich trust fund kid who goes to parties where he's surrounded with girls whose names he doesn't bother to remember" I say.

"I think you have the wrong idea" he says.

"How exactly?" I ask.

"I don't have a trust fund and my parents aren't rich. Well I mean they're not poor, but they're not Upper East Side mansion rich. We live in Brooklyn-Williamsburg actually" he says.

"That's so weird-I live in Brooklyn too, Brooklyn Heights" I say.

"What is a girl from Brooklyn Heights doing at an Upper East Side party?" he asks.

"I could ask you the same question" I say.

"I grew up with Quinn, she's one of my best friends-she used to live in Brooklyn before her dad became a millionaire and moved them to the Upper East Side. So how come you're here?" he asks.

"Quinn invited everyone from all of the five boroughs to this party and I got an invite" I say.

"Well I'm glad you did" he says smiling an adorable half smile. "Do you want to dance?" he asks.

"Dance? With you?" I ask.

"Well it's a masquerade ball, dancing is implied and since I asked the question, yes it would be with me" he says.

"You can dance?" I ask.

"Not even a little bit. But I promise to at least attempt to not step on your toes" he says, making me smile.

"Sure, I'd love to dance with you" I say taking his hand. He leads me over to the dance floor, and then he wraps his arms around me. He wasn't kidding about his dancing skills, he steps on my feet more times than I could care to count but it's magical. It's like a scene from a fairy tale where the prince catches the princess' eyes across the ballroom and they share this wonderful dance and at the end of the evening this perfect kiss, and its love at first sight.

"Tell me something about yourself Rachel Berry" he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because I'd like to know something about the beautiful, mysterious stranger I asked to dance with me" he says.

"Other than the fact my name's Rachel and I'm from Brooklyn Heights?" I ask.

"Other than that" he says.

"I'm eighteen and I'm a freshman at NYADA" I say.

"NYADA?" he asks.

"New York Academy of The Dramatic Arts-I want to be an actress on Broadway" I say.

"So you sing?" he asks looking interested.

"Yes I do" I say.

"I'd love to hear you sing sometime" he says.

"I'm sure we can arrange that" I say. "So what about you Finn Hudson?" I ask.

"What about me?" he replies.

"Well I've told you a little about me, I want to hear more about you" I say.

"I'm also eighteen but I'm studying at NYU. I'm doing a degree in Education" he says.

"That's cool, what do you want to teach?" I ask.

"Music" he says.

A cute guy who's interested in music? This must be my lucky night. I try to hide the grin on my face but I don't think I do a very good job of it.

"What kind of music are you interested in?" I ask.

"Classic rock mainly-I'm a big fan of Journey, REO Speedwagon, Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Aerosmith, The Beatles, REM, U2-basically all the big classic rock bands" he says.

"I can't say I've listened to much rock music, my IPod mainly consists of Broadway classics" I say.

"You're missing out on some great stuff-I'll send you some of my music and you can listen to it" he says.

"I'll do that if you listen to some of my Broadway stuff" I say.

"Show tunes aren't really my thing" he says.

"Well classic rock isn't really my thing either but I'm willing to give it a try" I say.

"You make a good point. Okay Rach, you've got yourself a deal" he says.

"Rach?" I ask surprised that he's given me a nickname.

"Sorry, do you not like it? I just thought it was a cute nickname" he says.

"It is; I was just surprised. No one else has ever called me Rach" I say.

"Well I'm glad that I'm the only one" he says.

"So we've covered school, how about your family?" I ask.

"My family? They're great. My brother Kurt is at FIT, he wants to be a designer. I think you guys wold get along really well, he's into Broadway stuff as well. He's actually my stepbrother but he's always seemed like a real brother to me-our parents got married two years ago. My mom's a nurse; she's always been great at taking care of people-actually she's more like my best friend than my mom. My dad died when I was a baby and for the first sixteen years of my life it was just me and her and she's just the best mom ever. My stepdad Burt is in Congress, but he also runs a tire shop. He's basically been like the dad I never had" he says.

"Your family sounds great" I say.

"They are. I think they'd really like you, especially Kurt" he says.

"I'd like to meet them. I mean one day" I say.

"I'd like that too. What about your family? What are they like?" he says.

"My dads are great-they've always been so supportive of my career. They paid for all my dance classes and my college fees and they've come to every single one of my shows and competitions over the years. They're lawyers for a big firm" I say.

"Dads?" he asks.

"I have two gay dads. Do you have a problem with that?" I ask, fully ready to bolt if he says he does. He laughs and pulls me back into his arms.

"I don't have a problem with people being gay. Kurt, my stepbrother, he's gay" he says.

"Well I'm glad you don't have a problem with my dads-most people are really weird about it" I say.

"I've never understood why, people should be allowed to love whoever they want" he says.

"That's exactly what I think" I say.

"So if you don't mind me asking, who's your mom? Are you adopted or what?" he says.

"No, I'm not adopted. My dads used a surrogate to have me-she was also their egg donor. I still don't know which one's my biological dad. Her name's Shelby Corcoran, I met her earlier this year. We didn't exactly hit it off-she wanted her baby girl back, not an eighteen year old. I don't think I'll be seeing her anytime soon" I say.

"I can't imagine my mom not wanting to know me" he says.

"That's because your mom has been around for your entire life. Mine hasn't" I say.

"I can't imagine why your mom wouldn't want to know you either" he says.

"You barely know me" I say.

"But what I do know, I like" he says.

"Do you go to a lot of these parties?" I ask.

"Not really, like I said I was only invited to this one because I'm friends with Quinn. I don't exactly run in the same circles as these people" he says.

"Me neither" I say. We continue to dance with each other, and I forget all about how bored I was before Finn came over to talk to me.

"You have such beautiful eyes" he says.

"Thank you" I say.

"I can't wait till midnight so I can see the rest of your beautiful face" he says.

"Neither can I" I say, but the real reason I can't wait till midnight is because I am dying to kiss him.

"We've covered family and school, so go on tell me something else interesting about you" Finn says.

"My dads named me after Rachel Green" I say.

"The character on friends?" he asks.

"Yeah, my dads are big friends fans-they have all the box sets and I've watched every season at least 300 times" I say.

"I've never seen it" Finn says.

"You've never seen Friends? I have so much to teach you" I say.

"I can't wait" he replies.

"Now it's your turn, tell me something interesting about you" I say.

"I play the drums" he says.

"That's really cool-I've never been able to play any instruments" I say.

"I'm sure I could teach you-I am studying to be a teacher after all, it would be good practice" he says.

"That would be nice" I say.

"How about secrets? Tell me something that no one else knows about you" he says.

"Are you sure you want to know?" I ask.

"Definitely" he replies.

"Okay, when I was younger my dads would always bring me a glass of water when I got upset and so when I'm sad, I'm not sure if I'm actually sad or just thirsty" I say. He laughs a little at this.

"That's so adorable" he says.

"Your turn, tell me a secret" I say.

"I really like you Rachel Berry" he says.

"That's not a secret" I say.

"Oh yeah, how come?" he counters.

"Because I already knew that" I say, making him smile. I rest my head on his shoulder and for the rest of the evening we dance in comfortable silence, happy to just share each other's company. The silence is only broken when the clock strikes midnight.

"It's midnight, time to take off your masks" Quinn announces from the steps of the ballroom.

"You ready for this?" Finn asks me.

"Definitely" I say. He gently lifts the mask away from my face and I do the same with his mask.

"Wow" he says.

"Is it a good wow, or bad wow?" I ask.

"Definitely a good wow, your face is more beautiful than I ever imagined" he says.

"Even my nose? People always say my nose is too big" I say.

"Your nose suits you" he says.

"Your face is just as handsome as I pictured it" I say, running my hands through his hair.

"I really want to kiss you" he says.

"You can you know. If you want to" I say.

"Oh, I want to" he says. His face leans into mine, and our lips meet in this perfect, magical, the kind you only tend to see in fairy tales kiss. After several minutes we pull away from each other.

"It was enchanting to meet you Finn Hudson" I say.

"It was enchanting to meet you too, Rachel Berry" he says. I turn away from him, walking towards the door.

"Wait" he calls after me.

"What?" I ask.

"You didn't give me your number or your address. How am I supposed to contact you?" he asks.

"You're smart, I'm sure you'll figure it out. If you manage to find me then we'll know that this was truly meant to be" I say.

"You're willing to risk that? I may never find you again" he says.

"Oh I know you will" I say.

"You intrigue me Rachel Berry" he says.

"I try" I say shrugging. He grabs my arm and pulls me in for another kiss.

"To hold me over until I next see you" he says.

"You'd better find me quickly then, because I'm going to need another kiss like that" I say winking.

"Goodnight, Rach" he says.

"Goodnight Finn" I say. I walk away slowly and turn to check if he's watching which he is, making me smile for the hundredth time this evening. I make my way down the front steps of the Fabray mansion, where my limousine is waiting. I fling open the door.

"Did you have a good evening Miss Berry?" the driver asks.

"The best" I say smiling. I can't stop blushing all the way home, so I let my hair down to make sure that the driver doesn't see my red cheeks. All I can think about is Finn Hudson and how much I'd like to kiss him again. Maybe I made a mistake not giving him my address or number. I thought it would be romantic to make him work for a date with me, but what if he never finds me again? It's not like I have his address or number either-all I know is that he lives in Williamsburg. But if it's meant to be then it will work out, I'm sure of it.

I can't get to sleep that evening. All I can think about is Finn and how much I want to see him. I pace back and forth in my living room, waiting for him to call or appear at the door of my apartment. It's stupid, I only met him this evening and it's two o'clock in the morning. As much as this evening felt like a fairy tale, this is real life. It's going to take longer than two hours for Finn to find me and I just need to be patient. Unfortunately, patience is not a strong suit of mine. I turn the music on and start dancing around my living room, but all that does is remind me of how much I enjoyed dancing with Finn and it wakes my dads up, irritating them to no end. Eventually I fall asleep on the sofa, only to be woken by the sound of the buzzer to our apartment.

"Hello" I say into the intercom.

"Hi, Rach, it's Finn" the voice on the other end of the intercom says. I have to stop myself from squealing. I can't believe that he actually found me.

"Hi Finn" I whisper.

"Can I come up?" he asks.

"You wait there, I'll come down. I don't want to wake my dads up" I say. I take the stairs two at a time, almost tripping. When I get to the bottom of the staircase, I fling open the door to find Finn waiting there with a bouquet of roses.

"How the hell did you get roses at two o'clock in the morning?" I ask.

"I may have snuck these out of Quinn's party. There were like twenty thousand bouquets, they won't miss them" he says.

"Wow, a guy who'll steal flowers for me, so romantic" I say.

"Glad you think so" he replies, flashing a cute half smile.

"So spill, how did you find me?" I ask.

"Quinn" he replies.

"Quinn knows where I live?" I ask, not sure whether to be happy or disturbed.

"I asked to see the guest list for the party-it had everyone's addresses on it so her parents knew where to send the invitations" he says.

"I told you that you'd figure out how to find me. I'm very impressed that it was on the same night we met though, I thought you'd keep me waiting for you" I say.

"I couldn't wait a second longer for you" he says kissing me.

"Well I'm glad because I couldn't wait a second longer for you either" I say.

"I came here to see if you'd maybe like to go out with me?" Finn says.

"I would love to go out with you. Next Friday sound good?" I ask.

"Next Friday sounds perfect. Maybe this time you could give me your number, so that I can call you" he says.

"I don't have a pen" I say.

"Just programme it into my phone" he says, handing me his IPhone. I type my number in and then hand it back to him.

"I'll call you to arrange the details" he says.

"I look forward to your call" I say. He wraps his arms around me and kisses me again.

"Goodnight Rach" he says.

I make my way back to the door of my apartment and stick my head out around the door.

"Goodnight Finn" I say.

This might be real life, but it turns out that fairy tales really can come true after all. My magical night may have been the start of a real relationship.

A/N: I have to say this was one of my favourite chapters to write so far as it's quite different from anything I've ever done before. Your choices for the next chapter are: Dear John, Mary's Song, You Belong With Me & Love Story.

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	7. It's A Love Story, Baby Just Say Yes

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. In this one shot Finn and Rachel's families are both rich, but Rachel's dads and Burt are business rivals. It is set in Ohio. Finn and Rachel have both grown up there but they have never met because of the rivalry between their parents. When they first meet, Finn and Rachel are thirteen.

"_Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone_

_I'll be waiting; all that's left to do is run._

_You'll be the prince, and I'll be the princess_

_It's a love story, baby, just say, "'Yes'"_

_-Love Story, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 7: It's A Love Story, Baby Just Say Yes

_Rachel_

"Come on sweetie, it's time to go to bed" I say to my little girl. She looks at me with her big brown eyes, the one she always uses to get what she wants. She looks exactly like me, with her brown curls and big brown eyes and unfortunately my nose. Her smile though is all Finn's which I love. It's hard to believe that she's seven already-I still think of her as my baby.

"Five more minutes please?" she says.

"Juliet Eva Hudson, bed now" I say using my sternest voice. She knows I mean it when I use her full name rather than calling her Jules.

"Fine" she says grumpily. I take her hand and we walk to her bedroom together, where I tuck her in to her bed.

"What song do you want me to sing for you tonight?" I ask her.

"Can I have a story tonight instead?" she asks.

"Which one?" I ask her.

"You and Daddy's story" she asks. I hadn't planned on telling her about this until she was a little older. She loves her grandpas and I don't want to change that. I hesitate slightly before I answer.

"Please Mama, I want to hear a love story. Like Cinderella" she says.

"Well, the story of your dad and I is more Romeo and Juliet than Cinderella" I say.

"Who are Romeo and Juliet?" she asks.

"It's Shakespeare sweetie. You'll learn about them when you're older. You're named after the Juliet from that play" I say.

"So will you tell me the story? Please?" she asks. She makes the eyes again, and I've already ignored them once tonight.

"Fine I'll tell you the story" I say. Jules smiles, the same smile as Finn and it takes me back to the night ten years ago when I met him.

_Flashback_

_I watch everyone in their fancy dresses come through the huge double doors to our mansion from my balcony. The cool summer breeze is brushing through my hair. I'd rather be out here than downstairs at the party. My dads are constantly trying to set me up with sons of their business associates and they're all creepy older guys that I hate. _

"_Rachel, come downstairs, we have friends we would like you to meet. You can't hide on your balcony forever!" my dad calls. I straighten my cream coloured ball gown and make sure that my curls are in place before making my way down the stairs. _

"_Rachel, we'd like you to meet Noah Puckerman, he's the son of one of our partners at the firm" my dad says, taking my arm and leading me over to a guy who looks about my age, with a Mohawk. I struggle to find an excuse to get myself out of there. I'm sure he's perfectly nice, but the Mohawk has immediately put me off._

"_I'm Rachel…." I say, but I trail off when I notice someone through the crowds of people in fancy dresses. He's gorgeous, a tall guy with dark hair and eyes and the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. I start to move towards him, when I realise that he's making his way through the crowd towards me. _

"_Hello" he says when he reaches me._

"_Hi" I say, hoping that he doesn't notice that my cheeks have turned bright red._

"_Rachel, you can't be seen talking to this boy, he's a Hudson. As in Carole Hudson's son. As in Burt Hummel's stepson" my dad says pulling on my arm. My eyes can't be drawn away from him though._

"_I came over here to see if you would like to dance" the boy says kissing my hand._

"_I'm going to need a first name if I'm going to dance with you" I say._

"_It's Finn Hudson, and you are?" he asks._

"_Rachel Berry" I say._

"_Well Rachel Berry, would you like to dance?" he asks again._

"_Rachel….."my dad says._

"_I would love to" I say taking his hand as he leads me to the dance floor. Little did I know that night would be the start of something magical._

_End of flashback_

"So what happened next?" Juliet asks.

"Be patient, I'm getting there" I say.

_Flashback_

_I hear the pebbles hit the window of my bedroom in the middle of the night. I sneak out onto the balcony and see Finn standing there, pebbles in his hand. _

"_What are you doing here?" I whisper._

"_Isn't it obvious? I came to see you" he says._

"_My dads would kill me if they knew you were here" I say._

"_Hence the throwing pebbles on your window rather than ringing the doorbell. Now are you going to come down here and join me or not?" he asks. _

"_I'll be down in a minute" I say. I make me way out onto the balcony and swing my leg over the wall._

"_Promise you'll catch me" I say._

"_Of course" he says, standing under the balcony, arms outstretched. I swing my other leg over the balcony and fall, directly into Finn's arms. "Told you I'd catch you" he whispers. _

"_I never doubted it" I say. We sit back against the wall of my house and Finn puts his arm around me._

"_I'm sorry I stepped on your toes so many times this evening" he says._

"_It's okay, after the fifth time my toes became so numb I couldn't feel them anymore anyway" I say laughing. He playfully punches me on the arm. _

"_You are not at all how I imagined you" he says._

"_How did you imagine me?" I ask._

"_Well the words Burt used were spoiled brat" he says._

"_You shouldn't believe everything your stepfather tells you. I certainly don't believe everything my dads tell me" I say._

"_Why what have your dads told you about me?" he asks._

"_Nothing, I hadn't heard anything about you until tonight. They don't like to talk about your family unless they're complaining" I say._

"_Well I guess we'd better change that" he says._

"_What do you mean?" I ask._

"_Well you don't know anything about me, and all I've heard about you is second hand information from Burt. Has he even ever met you?" he asks._

"_I'm sure my dads have probably invited him to some party or another. I don't remember though-it was probably when I was younger" I say._

"_So tell me about yourself then Rachel Berry" he says._

"_I love to sing, always have. I'm going to be a big star on Broadway one day" I say._

"_Can you sing something for me?" he asks._

"_Excuse me?" I ask._

"_You heard me" he says._

"_But I don't have any music and we might wake my dads up" I say._

"_You can't tell me that not having music has stopped you before. As for your dads, I guess you'll just have to be quiet then" he says. He's right; I've never passed up any chance to sing, even if I don't have music. _

"_Fine" I say smiling. I softly sing a verse from one of my favourite songs-Don't Cry For Me Argentina from Evita. He smiles the most beautiful smile I've ever seen when I've finished singing._

"_That was incredible" he says._

"_Evita's always been one of my favourite musicals. When I have a daughter, I want Eva to be part of her name. Did I just give away too much?" I ask blushing._

"_No, I think that's really sweet. Any guy would be lucky to have you" he says._

"_So are you interested in music?" I ask._

"_Sure, I love music. I can sing a little, but nowhere near as well as you. I play the drums too" he says._

"_What type of music? I'm guessing you're not a Broadway fan" I say._

"_I like rock music-mainly classic rock. I've never seen a Broadway show in my life" he says._

"_We'll have to change that one day" I say._

"_I'm not sure, that kind of music really isn't for me" he says._

"_How can you know if you like something if you haven't tried it?" I ask._

"_You make a good point. Fine, I will go with you to a Broadway show" he says._

"_You won't regret it" I say. He's silent for a moment, staring out into space._

"_What are you thinking about?" I ask._

"_Just about how much easier it would be if we went somewhere else" he says._

"_What do you mean? Like run away together? We barely know each other" I say._

"_I know, and I didn't mean that we should run away together. I meant that it would be so much easier to get to know you if things were different. If our parents didn't hate each other" he says._

"_But they aren't. If Romeo and Juliet can make it work then so can we" I say._

"_Romeo and Juliet? What do they have to do with anything?" he asks._

"_Their parents hated each other and they still ended up getting married" I say._

"_Yeah then they died" he says._

"_I know, but at least it was romantic-they died for their love. I mean I'm not saying that we should die, but we should at least fight to be together" I say._

"_Are you saying you love me?" he asks._

"_I'm saying I'd like to see where this goes, and get to know you a little better. If that means we have to keep it a secret, then so be it" I say._

"_Where's your mom?" he asks._

"_That came out of nowhere" I say._

"_Sorry, it just hit me. I know you have two dads but I don't know anything about your mom. Is she dead?" he asks._

"_Only to me" I reply._

"_Why?" he asks._

"_She doesn't care about me, never did. I've seen her maybe twice in my entire life, before she decided her career was more important than me. That's the story of my life I guess-my dads business always comes before me as well. The only reason I was even at the party tonight was because they wanted to introduce me to the sons of their business partners. I wouldn't have been there otherwise. How come you were around though? I don't remember either of my dads inviting anyone from your family" I say._

"_The best parties to go to are the ones you aren't invited to" he says winking. _

"_You snuck in? I'd ask why my dads didn't bust you on it but I know they don't like to make public scenes" I say._

"_My friend Puck was invited to this party, he helped me sneak in through the back door" he says._

"_Puck? As in Puckerman? As in the guy you saved me from?" I ask._

"_Yeah, he's my best friend. He's actually a really nice guy once you get to know him" Finn says._

"_I'm sure he is, I'm just not interested in guys with mohawks" I say._

"_You shouldn't judge a book by its cover-isn't that what they say?" he asks._

"_Yeah it is" I say._

"_Well Puck is a nice guy, I actually think you'd like him if you got to know him. He's a pretty good singer himself-he plays guitar too" he says._

"_If Puck is that important to you then I'd like to get to know him. I just didn't want my fathers to set me up with him" I say._

"_Why's that?" he asks._

"_Well at first it was because I hated his Mohawk, but now it's because I'm interested in a certain best friend of his" I say._

"_That's good because I'm interested in a certain beautiful girl with an amazing voice who's sitting across from me" he says making me blush._

"_How about your family?" I ask._

"_I don't want to talk about them now" he says._

"_Why do you have a bad relationship with them?" I ask._

"_No, there's just something else I'd rather be doing right now" he says._

"_What's that?" I ask._

"_This" he says. He leans towards me and kisses me. I'm surprised at first but then I kiss back, just as intensely. It's my first ever kiss and I'm surprised at how nice it feels-I always imagined kisses as something gross, I mean sharing saliva with someone else isn't exactly hygienic. But it's not gross, it actually feels pleasant. When we finally pull away from each other, I am disappointed._

"_Wow that was…" Finn says and I finish his sentence._

"_Incredible" I say._

_End of flashback_

"Eww, you and daddy kissed? Don't you know boys have cooties?" Jules says, making me laugh.

"Your daddy doesn't have cooties sweetie" I say.

"Is daddy the only boy who doesn't have cooties?" she asks.

"No. One day you'll find a boy who doesn't have cooties" I say.

"No I won't, boys are gross!" she says. "So is that the end of the story Mommy?" she asks.

"Not even close honey, that was just the start. Finn and I dated in secret for three years" I say.

"Then what happened?" she asks.

"You happened sweetie" I say, ruffling her hair. This is the part of the story that I wasn't sure about telling her. She is only seven, she doesn't need to know all the sordid details. But she won't stop asking if I don't tell her, so I start to tell her the next part of the story.

_Flashback_

_I panic when the little pink plus sign appears on the stick. Finn and I have managed to keep our relationship secret from our parents for the last three years, but this effectively ends that. I thought we were being careful, I guess I was wrong. I quickly text Finn._

_**-SOS, I need you here right now. R xxxx**_

_He replies almost instantly._

_**-Why, Rach? What's wrong? F**_

_I love that he calls me Rach-it's his own special nickname for me, no one else has ever called me it. _

_**-I'll tell you when you get here. Come by the usual route R xxxx**_

_I pace the room, anxiously waiting for Finn. I hear the pebbles hit my bedroom window, the signal that Finn has arrived. I rush out onto the balcony with a makeshift rope made of my clothes. I attach it to the doorknob and throw it down to him. He makes his way up the rope very quickly-it's an art he's perfected in the years we've been secretly dating._

"_Hey" he says, giving me a quick kiss on the lips._

"_Is that really the best hello you can give your girlfriend?" I ask cheekily. He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me harder._

"_Is that better?" he asks when he pulls away._

"_Much" I say. _

"_So what was the SOS text about? You've really worried me" he says._

"_Come into my room. You'll probably need to sit down" I say grabbing his arm and leading him inside, grabbing the makeshift rope as I go. I dump it on the floor as he sits down on my bed._

"_Seriously Rach, you can't make me wait any longer. Why the SOS?" he asks. I go into my ensuite bathroom and grab the pregnancy test from the sink. Walking back into the room, I hand it wordlessly to Finn._

"_Is this what I think it is?" he says, dropping the test on the floor in shock._

"_Yes, I'm pregnant" I say quietly. We sit in silence for a few minutes as the news settles over us._

"_What are we going to do?" he asks._

"_Remember three years ago when you said it would easier if we were somewhere else?" I ask._

"_Yeah, I remember" he replies._

"_What if I said I wanted to take you up on that?" I ask._

"_You want to run away with me?" he says._

"_Yes. It would be a whole lot easier to run away, than to face my dads" I say._

"_I would love to do that….." he says._

"_Why do I sense a but coming on?" I ask._

"_But we have to tell your dads" he says._

"_Why?" I ask whining._

"_Because if you want us to keep this baby, then we're going to need help. We won't get that if we run away" he says._

"_I'm not sure you quite understand how angry they'll be" I say._

"_We need to do this Rach. Do you want a future with me?" he says._

"_You know I do" I say._

"_If we're going to have any kind of future then we have to tell our parents. We can't keep it a secret forever" he says._

_I sigh knowing that he is right. "Fine, we'll tell them. You'll come with me so I can use you as a human shield" I say, making him laugh._

"_It will be fine" he says._

"_You clearly don't know my dads" I say, taking his hand and walking down the stairs. We don't even get to the bottom of the stairs before we are ambushed by my dads._

"_What the hell is he doing here?" my daddy asks, pointing at Finn._

"_How did he get in?" my dad asks._

"_I helped him up to my balcony and he's here because he's my boyfriend" I say. _

"_Your boyfriend?" my dad asks, looking as if his eyeballs are about to pop out of his head. I'm quite glad that I'm behind Finn right now. _

"_Yes we've been dating for three years" I say._

"_Three years? You have been dating the Hudson boy for three years and you never told us" Daddy yells. _

"_Yes Daddy. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would be mad" I say._

"_What changed your mind?" Dad asks, his voice deadly quiet._

_I grasp Finn's hand tightly before I say my next words. "I'm pregnant" I whisper, my voice so quiet that I'm unsure if they heard me. I'm not sure if I want them to have. _

"_Please tell me I misheard you Rachel Barbra Berry. That you didn't just say you were pregnant?" my daddy says. _

"_You didn't mishear. Finn and I are having a baby" I say. My dad flies off the handle, grabbing Finn by the shirt._

"_How dare you! You seduced my daughter and got her pregnant" my Daddy says. He grabs Finn by the collar and tries to throw him against the wall but Finn is taller than him and too strong. He punches my Daddy in the face._

"_Finn!" I say, helping my Daddy up from the floor. _

"_I'm sorry sweetie, I was just trying to defend myself" he says._

"_GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE!" my dad yells. _

"_No!" I scream, clutching the banister._

"_If you know what's good for you, you will get out of this house now" my Daddy says to Finn. _

"_Please don't go" I beg, clutching onto Finn's arm. I'm not even trying to hold back the tears anymore._

"_I have to" Finn says, removing my hand from his sleeve. I watch as he walks away, begging him not to go but knowing that it's useless. The sound of the door closing as he leaves the house seems like the loudest noise in the world. We're all silent for a few minutes after he leaves and I try to retreat to my room but my daddy grabs my arm._

"_You didn't think that was the end of that conversation did you?" my daddy asks._

"_You just threw my boyfriend out, I'm not really in the mood to talk" I say._

"_Too bad, cause we're going to" my dad says. _

"_What do you want to talk about?" I ask._

"_What we're going to do about your situation" Daddy says. _

"_My situation? This is a baby, your grandchild. How can you talk about it like that?" I ask._

"_You are not having a baby with Hudson DNA. You are not having a baby period" he says._

"_Please say you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting" I say. _

"_We can take you to a clinic tomorrow. Have it….taken care of" my dad says._

"_No" I say sharply. _

"_Rachel Barbra Berry, you will do as you are told" my daddy says._

"_Not when it comes to my baby I won't. I'm not killing it" I say._

"_Then you have to leave" he replies coldly._

"_No, I don't. This is my house too and I don't have to do anything I don't want to. Like it or not, I'm having this baby and Finn will be in his or her life" I say. _

"_I thought we taught you respect" my dad says._

"_You did, which is why I hope you'll respect my right to make my own choices" I say._

"_This is a huge mistake" my daddy says._

"_My child is not a mistake, he or she is a blessing" I say._

"_We'll just have to agree to disagree on that" he says. _

"_I guess we will" I say. I turn away from my dads and storm away up the stairs. I collapse on my bed, crying. I know I've made the right choice, that I can't kill my baby but I hated the look of hatred I saw in my dads eyes. I was their golden child and now I am a disappointment. I was their daughter and now I'm just another knocked up teenager._

_End of flashback_

Jules is silent for a few minutes after I tell her that part of the story. I wonder again if I should have, but it's too late now.

"So Grandpa and Pop-Pop didn't want you to have me?" she asks in a quiet voice.

"They love you sweetheart and they deeply regret suggesting that I didn't have you. They were just worried about how young I was and they didn't like your daddy very much" I say.

"Do they still not like Daddy?" she asks.

"They've got used to Daddy sweetie but there's a lot of history there, which you are far too young to hear about" I say.

"Nana and Papa like you though" she says confused.

"Nana and Papa found it easier to accept me than your grandpas did to accept Daddy. Maybe because I'm their only daughter and they were very protective of me" I say.

"This is a very complicated love story" Jules says.

"It's not quite Cinderella no. If you want me to stop, I can stop" I say.

"No, I want to hear the end" she says.

"I promise sweetie, this story has a happy ending" I say.

"What is it?" she asks.

"The happy ending?" I reply.

"Yes" she says.

"The happy ending is you Jules" I say ruffling her hair. She smiles that beautiful smile that reminds me so much of Finn. I start to tell her the final part of the story.

_Flashback_

_It's been three months since I found out I was pregnant. I haven't seen Finn since the day I told him but he texts me constantly and he came to my scan last week. We're determined to make it work despite my dads not being on board with our relationship. I've even met his parents now. Burt was hostile to me at first, but he treats me like a member of the family now and Carole is like the mother I never had. In my house things are a little different. I don't speak to my dads unless they speak to me, which doesn't happen often. They just stare at me and my bump disdainfully. They won't look at the pictures from my scans and they didn't even blink when I told them last week that the baby was a girl. Their granddaughter and they just don't care. _

_As usual breakfast is silent. Me and my dads just stare at each other from across the table. "You have mail, Rachel" my dad says sliding an envelope to me. _

"_It's from the Hudson boy" Daddy says. _

"_Did you look at it?" I ask angrily. My hormones make me angry at pretty much everyone around me. _

"_No, it has his address in the corner" my dad says. I open the envelope and look at the contents._

"_What does it say?" Daddy asks._

"_None of your damn business" I say angrily. I pick up a muffin from the table and storm out (though it's not as easy to storm out when you have a belly the size of a beach ball). When I am in the hallway, I open the letter._

_**Rach,**_

_**I need to see you, I have some news. Please meet me at the park at eight o'clock this evening. **_

_**I love you,**_

_**Finn**_

_I smile whilst reading it and pocket the note. "Mommy's going to see your daddy tonight baby" I say stroking my stomach._

_I arrive at the park at exactly eight that evening but Finn is not there. I was expecting him to arrive before me, but he is usually late so I don't worry about it. I stare at my watch, counting the minutes until he arrives. When half an hour has passed and he is still not here, I am tempted to give up and walk home. I start to walk away when I see Finn from appearing round the corner. _

"_I'm so sorry I'm late Rach" he says panting._

"_Why are you late?" I ask._

"_I had to do something before I came here and you needed to be out of the house for me to do it" he says._

"_So you asked me to get here early deliberately?" I ask._

"_Yes, because I needed to talk to your dads" he says._

"_What about?" I ask._

"_Why I wanted to meet you tonight" I say._

"_And why do you want to meet me tonight?" I ask. I am astonished when he drops to one knee._

"_I was asking your dads permission to marry you" he says._

"_And what did they say?" I ask._

"_They said that if you wanted to marry me then they wouldn't stand in your way. They asked me why you would want to be with me over one of the sons of their business partners" he says._

"_What did you say?" I ask._

"_I said it was because you loved me" he says._

"_That's exactly what I would have said" I say smiling._

"_I realise that we're young to get married" he says._

"_Very young" I say._

"_But we wouldn't actually get married until we're both done with school. I just want you to know that I want to marry you. I want you, me and our daughter to be a family" he says._

"_Juliet" I say._

"_What?" he asks._

"_I thought that could be her name. Juliet as in from Romeo and Juliet. I guess we're kind of like them-lovers who's families try to keep them apart and I thought it would be a good reminder of our love story" I say._

"_It's beautiful. Juliet Eva Hudson" he says, placing a hand on my stomach. She kicks as he does so._

"_I think she likes it" I say. "Eva? You remembered that?" I ask, recalling our conversation from when we were thirteen._

"_Of course I do" he says smiling. "My knee is getting kind of numb here though, so do you mind if I ask my question now?" he says, making my laugh. _

"_You can, but I think you already know what my answer is going to be" I say._

"_Well I hope I'm right" he says. He flips the ring box open to reveal the most gorgeous ring. It's an antique ring, the sort I always imagined having, a circular diamond in the centre, with petal shaped diamond clusters around the central diamond to make a flower and the band itself has diamonds on either side. _

"_How did you afford something this beautiful?" I ask._

"_It's a family heirloom, it was my grandmother's" he says. "Rachel will you marry me?" he asks. _

"_Yes" I say instantly. He slides the ring onto my finger and we kiss passionately._

_End of flashback_

"Can I see the ring?" Jules asks me when I finish telling her the story.

"You've seen it before" I say.

"I know but I want to see it again" she says. I hold out my ring finger to show her the engagement ring.

"It's really pretty" she says admiring it.

"One day this ring will be yours" I say.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yes, it's been passed down the Hudson family for generations, it will be your turn next" I say.

"Is that the end of the story?" she asks.

"The rest of it you already know sweetie-Mama and Daddy had you, got married and lived happily ever after" I say.

"Thank you for telling me it" she says.

"You're welcome sweetie. Now it's time for you to go to sleep, so night night" I say, bringing the covers of her bed up to her chest.

"Night night Mama" she says. She has an amazing ability to fall asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. I give her a kiss on the forehead and then leave the room, silently shutting the door behind me. Finn is sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"Is she asleep?" he asks quietly.

"She's asleep. She wanted to hear about our love story" I say.

"Are you sure she's old enough to hear about what happened with your dads?" he asks.

"I gave her the condensed version-we'll tell her the rest when she's older" I say.

"Are you definitely sure she's asleep?" he asks.

"I just tucked her in and you know what she's like, falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. Why?" I say.

He pushes me back down on the couch and kisses me. "We can't do this with her in the next room" I say, although I know my resistance is going to be very weak.

"She's asleep, she won't hear" he says.

"You are so bad" I whisper kissing him back.

"You know you love it" he says and we spend the evening making love on the couch. He was right, our daughter doesn't even stir.

A/N: Sorry for the wait between the last chapter and this one-I'm back at school so I have less time to write than I would have done. I hope you guys liked this chapter-it's another one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs-the first one I heard actually and it's the one that made me fall in love with her music. Your choices of song for the next chapter are: Speak Now, Never Grow Up, White Horse or All Too Well.

Review?


	8. Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. In this one shot, everything that happened in canon up to the end of season 3 happened. Finn stayed in Ohio and went to OSU, becoming a teacher. He started dating Quinn after she graduated from Yale and they live in LA, where Quinn works as an actress and Finn teaches Music at a public high school. They have been engaged for a year and are about twenty four in this one shot. Rachel went to New York and ended up becoming a Broadway actress, but she has always been in love with Finn.

"_Don't say yes, run away now_

_I'll meet you when you're out_

_Of the church at the back door_

_Don't wait or say a single vow_

_You need to hear me out_

_And they said speak now"_

_-Speak Now, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 8: Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

_Rachel_

"Rachel! There's some mail for you here" Kurt calls. Kurt and I live in a two bedroom apartment in Williamsburg-we like it in Williamsburg since there's a good music community and Kurt still lives with me even though he could afford a more expensive apartment on his salary from his job. I graduated from NYADA two years ago but Kurt ended up going into fashion, gaining a full time job as creative director at Vogue. I haven't had any major parts on Broadway, only chorus roles or understudies (and I haven't had to go on). I have had some starring parts in Off Broadway plays but I'm still waiting for my big break.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Mainly bills, but there is a letter from someone" he says handing me the pile of mail. I throw the bills on the coffee table to be opened later and then look down at the letter. I drop it when I see the handwriting, I am so shocked. I never expected to hear from him again.

"What's wrong Rachel?" Kurt asks. He picks up the envelope from the floor, but as soon as he looks down at the handwriting, he knows what's wrong.

"How long has it been? Since you heard from him?" he asks.

"About two years. He called me to tell me he'd got his teaching degree and that he was moving to LA with Quinn" I say.

"Are you not going to open it?" he asks.

"Why should I? I wanted to marry him damn it! I was willing to wait in Ohio for a year while he figured his life out. Heck, I wanted to do it. But he put me on that damn train and never contacted me again until he got his degree. That's not what you do with someone you love" I say.

"It's been six years Rachel. He let you go because he loved you so much and he didn't want you to be held back by him, you know that" Kurt says.

"I didn't feel like I was being held back. I wanted to marry him, heck I still do" I say.

"You know he's engaged to Quinn right?" Kurt asks.

"No! When the hell did that happen and why didn't you tell me?" I yell.

"Last year, I didn't tell you because I didn't think you'd want to know that Finn and Quinn were getting married. I mean you had to know it would happen at some point, they've been living together in LA" he says.

"Of course I would want to know that the love of my life is moving on" I say indignantly.

"Well maybe now you can move on?" he suggests gently.

"You know I can't do that Kurt, I've been trying for six years. It's not like I haven't dated anyone but no one makes me feel like Finn did" I say.

"Then I hate to tell you Rachel, but you're probably going to end up alone" he says.

"No. One day Finn and I will be together again" I say.

"How can you be so sure of that?" he asks.

"If two people are meant to be together then eventually they'll find their way back. I believe Finn and I are meant to be together, so one day we will be together and that time will be forever" I say.

"I wish I had your faith in that" he says.

"The only one who needs to have faith in that is me. It's the one thing that's kept me going without Finn for the past six years" I say.

"I need to get into work, are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asks.

"I'll be fine" I say.

"Read that letter" he calls over his shoulder as he walks out the door. I sit for a while just staring at the letter on the coffee table. Eventually I can't take it anymore and I snatch up the letter, tearing it open. A million different reasons as to why Finn might be writing to me run through my head. Of course I want the letter to be saying that he's made a huge mistake moving to LA with Quinn but I know it's not likely to be that. I take a few deep breaths and then stare at the paper.

_Rach, _

_I thought you should hear this from me rather than Kurt. I'm sure by now he's probably told you that Quinn and I are engaged. I wish you and I could have worked out, you have no idea how much. But I'm tired of waiting for it to work out. You're there and I'm here and we're just never going to be at the same place at the same time. I thought if I got my degree I would prove that I was worthy of you, but you deserve so much more than me. Anyway, back to my news, Quinn and I are getting married. This Saturday actually, in her family church in Lima. I wanted to invite you, but you know what Quinn's like. _

_I really wish we could have worked out, but I've moved on with Quinn and you should move on too. I just want you to know that no matter who I'm married to, you will always be the love of my life. _

_All my love forever,_

_Finn_

Tears are rolling down my cheeks when I finish reading the letter. I can't believe he's doing this to me. I mean I knew he was engaged, because Kurt told me, but even when he said this, there was a tiny part of me that hoped he'd call of the wedding before it happened. But he's getting married on Saturday-that's tomorrow. I pick up my phone and press 2 on speed dial for Kurt. Even after all these years Finn is number 1 on my speed dial-I haven't had the heart to change it.

"Hello?" Kurt answers.

"I read the letter. I didn't want to, but I felt like I had to" I say.

"What did it say?" he asks.

"Finn and Quinn are getting married" I say.

"But I already told you that?" he says, confused.

"You don't understand. Finn and Quinn are getting married on Saturday" I say, my voice cracking slightly on the word "married".

There is an uncomfortable silence on the other end of the phone.

"You already knew about this didn't you?" I ask, accusingly.

"I may have received an invitation" he says.

"When?" I ask.

"May" he says.

"That was three months ago! Why didn't you tell me then?" I ask.

"Because I declined the invitation" he says.

"Because of me?" I ask.

"I always thought when I saw my brother get married it would be to you, not Quinn. So yes, I guess it was because of you. But it was my choice, so don't feel bad about it" he says.

"I don't" I say.

"I'm sorry honey, I really wish it could have worked out between the two of you" he says.

"Maybe it still can" I say, suddenly feeling more determined.

"How exactly Rachel?" Kurt asks suspiciously.

"I'm booking a ticket to Ohio right now" I say grabbing my laptop from the kitchen counter.

"You can't stop their wedding. It's over, he's going to marry Quinn and they're going to spend the rest of their lives together" he says.

"No. It's not over. It's not over until someone says I do" I say, hanging up on Kurt. I feel better now I have a plan. It's clear from that letter that Finn still loves me and if he still loves me then I still have a chance. I book the first flight out to Ohio that I can get, before packing my suitcases and rushing to the airport. If fate isn't going to bring us back together then maybe I need to give fate a little nudge.

_The day of the wedding_

I never thought that when I went to Finn's wedding I would have to slip in through the back door of the church wearing a blonde wig and sunglasses. I thought I would be the one walking down the aisle in the pretty white dress, marrying Finn-not an uninvited guest attempting to stop his wedding . The church has a small room at the back where brides get ready. I stop and peer round the slightly open door. Quinn is there hitting Santana with her bouquet for some reason. I try to make myself feel better by pretending she looks hideous in her dress, but she doesn't. She looks beautiful-although personally I'm not a fan of the huge, puffy skirted style of dress she's chosen. It makes her look like she's wearing a pastry. I turn away from the door, and hide behind a curtain at the back of the church. I watch as all of our old friends from Glee enter the church, and of course Quinn's family, with the female relatives dressed in various shades of pastel. Kurt rushes in through the door behind them. I guess he changed his mind about coming when he heard I was trying to stop the wedding. I was expecting him to come after me when I flew out yesterday, but he probably couldn't get out of work.

He looks desperately around the room for me, and I pull the curtain tighter around me. He walks towards the curtain I am hiding behind and I take a deep breath, hoping he won't see me. I am out of luck.

"Rachel?" Kurt asks.

"How did you find me?" I reply.

"Your shoes were poking out of the curtain. Next time you want to hide, make sure you hide your feet as well" he says laughing slightly. "Why are you wearing your blonde wig?" he asks.

"I didn't want people to recognise me when I came in" I say.

"Don't do this Rach, don't ruin their wedding" he says.

"I have to" I say.

"Why? You've had six years to get Finn back, why now?" he asks.

"You know that saying you don't know how much you love something until it's gone?" I say.

"Yeah" he replies.

"I always knew I loved Finn, but I didn't realise just how much until I was holding that letter that told me he was marrying someone else. I can't live without him Kurt and I won't. If I didn't try to stop this wedding then I'd never forgive myself" I say.

"There's nothing I can say to change your mind?" he asks.

"I've made my decision and I'm not changing it" I say.

"Good luck then. I hope it works out for you" he says.

"Me too, but if it doesn't then you'll have Funny Girl and the vegan ice cream waiting for me at home right?" I ask.

"You know I will" he says. I give him a hug.

"Thank you. You're the best friend a girl could ever have" I say.

"You're not bad yourself. Are you going to come out and sit with me? Like you said, you have your wig on so it's not like anyone will recognise you" he says.

"I don't want to take any chances on that Kurt-someone might" I say. He wishes me luck again before walking to a row of seats at the back of the church. Finn and Puck take their places at the front of the church. I swear I see Finn catch my eye but I'm probably imagining things. After all he doesn't know I'm here.

The organ starts to play and Quinn appears at the bottom of the aisle. Most people are watching her but I'm not, I'm watching Finn. Finn's eyes aren't on her, they are on me. Maybe he does recognise me after all-he must have recognised my eyes, since I had to take the sunglasses off when I was watching Quinn earlier. He wants it to be me walking towards him I can tell. Why else would he be looking at me?

Quinn reaches the end of the aisle and Finn turns to face her. They take each others hands. I can't watch this and yet I can't look away either.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join Finn Christopher Hudson and Lucy Quinn Fabray in holy matrimony. If anyone sees any reason why these two may not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace" the minister says. The entire room goes silent. My hands start to shake. This is it, my last chance to get Finn back. I take a deep breath and appear from behind the curtain. I pull my wig off and drop it along with my sunglasses.

"I do" I say. Everyone in the room is staring at me, horrified. But the only person I am looking at, the only person I want to see is Finn.

_Finn_

I knew it was her. I saw her peering out from behind the curtain as Puck and I were walking down the aisle to the front of the church. She was wearing a blonde wig but I knew it was her. At first I thought it was just wishful thinking on my part but then I saw those eyes. Rach has always had unmistakeable eyes-big, beautiful, chocolate brown eyes. The nose is also Rachel's and the lips. If she's trying to hide then she's not doing a very good job, since I can see her entire face, pretty much. I don't go over to her though. I can't do that to Quinn, not on our wedding day. If I'm being truly honest, I don't love Quinn. Not in the way I loved Rach. I started going out with her again to get over Rach after I let her go to New York. That was the stupidest mistake of my life. I should have married Rach six years ago; I shouldn't have put her on the train.

The music starts and Quinn is walking down the aisle towards me. I can't tear my gaze away from Rach though. I don't know what's she's doing here. I didn't want her to have to watch me getting married, and even if I had wanted her here, Quinn would never have let me invite her. So why is she here? Maybe she wants to stop the wedding, but that doesn't seem like something that Rach would do. Quinn reaches the end of the aisle, and I force myself to tear my eyes away from Rach to look at Quinn.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here to join Lucy Quinn Fabray and Finn Christopher Hudson in holy matrimony. If anyone sees any reason why these two may not be joined in holy matrimony, then speak now or forever hold your peace" the minister says. If I'm right, then this is when Rachel should appear out from behind that curtain at the back. I take a deep breath, hoping that I am right because if I marry Quinn today then that would be the second biggest mistake of my life.

I was right. She appears from behind the curtain, dropping the blond wig and a pair of black sunglasses.

"I do" she says. Everyone in the room is staring at her, me included. But the only one she is looking at is me. I walk down the aisle towards her, ignoring Quinn's horrified gaze. I stop several inches away from her.

"You do?" I ask. "Why?"

"Because you don't love her. You love me. Don't you?" she asks.

"Of course I do" I say.

"Then leave, right now with me" she says.

"It's not that simple" I say.

"It is that simple. This is not me Finn. You know that I would never turn up uninvited and stop your wedding unless I was sure that you were marrying the wrong girl. Quinn is the wrong girl for you" she says.

"It's always been you" I say, stroking her hair.

"So what do you want to do about it?" she asks.

"I want to run away with you, right now" I say.

Quinn comes storming down the aisle towards us. "You cannot do this to me Finn! We are supposed to be getting married right now" she yells.

"I'm sorry Quinn but I can't do this. I love Rachel, I always have. If I marry you now then it's a lie because I don't love you. Not in the way I love her" I say. She screams, a scream that sounds as if it would tear the entire building down. Then she slaps me in the face and storms down the aisle and out of the church.

I step closer to Rachel and repeat the words she said to me so many years ago.

"You know you can kiss me if you want to" I say.

"I want to" she says. I wrap my arms around her and we share a kiss like we are the only two people in the room and there isn't a church full of Quinn's relatives hating my guts right now. I know one person who will be happy about this-my mom's always wanted me to get back together with Rach.

"Do you want to get out of here? Because I'm pretty sure if I don't get out of here soon then Russell Fabray may actually kill me" I say.

"I would love to. Do you not want to get out of your tux first?" she asks.

"I don't have a change of clothes, I got ready at home" I say.

"Not a problem, we'll swing by on the way" she says. She takes my hand and we walk down the aisle together, almost as if we were the ones who just got married.

We run towards the Mercedes that Quinn and I were going to use to take us to our honeymoon after the wedding and take our respective seats.

"I'm so glad you were there. I'd probably be saying my vows right now if you hadn't showed up" I say.

"You said when you let me go on that train that we were going to let the universe do its thing and if we were meant to be together then we'd be together. I decided I was tired of waiting for the universe to do its thing and that it needed a little help. Did you seriously think I was going to let you marry anyone other than me?" she asks.

"No" I reply. I notice a chain hanging around her neck with the engagement ring I gave to her six years ago. I finger it.

"Is that….?" I start to ask her if it is the same ring when she interrupts me.

"Yes it is. I realised I didn't give it back to you at the train station and it didn't feel right to wear it on my finger. But our breakup never really felt like a breakup to me so I just wore it on a chain around my neck, hoping that you'd give to me again one day" she says.

"Turn around" I say.

"What?" she asks.

"You heard me, turn around" I say. She turns so her back is to me and I unclip the chain from around her neck.

"I think it's time for me to put that ring back where it belongs. I should never have let you go six years ago. We could have been a happily married couple by now" I say.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pissed at you for doing that. But I'm so proud of what you've achieved in the past six years" she says.

"Well I can't change what I did. We can't get the past six years back. But we have the rest of our lives to make up for it" I say.

"Are you ever actually going to get around to the proposal part?" Rach asks making me laugh.

"Be patient, I'm getting there" I say. "Rachel Berry, you are the love of my life. I have never loved anyone as much, or in the same way as I love you and I can't live without you-believe me I've tried for the last six years and it just hasn't worked. So would you do me the honour of being my wife?" I ask.

"Yes" she says immediately. I slide the ring onto her finger and then a kiss her.

"It still fits perfectly" she says.

"Why, did you think it wouldn't?" I ask.

"No. You and I have always been a perfect fit" she says kissing me.

"So where to?" I ask.

"The airport" she says.

"You want to go back to New York?" I ask.

"Not yet. Hey where were you going on your honeymoon?" she asks.

"Paris, why?" I reply.

"Paris sounds romantic" she says.

"You want to go on the honeymoon I planned with Quinn?" I ask.

"Why not? I stole her fiancé, and it's not like she's going to use it. Does that make me seem really heartless?" she says.

"No. I paid for the damn thing, I may as well use it. Paris it is" he says starting up the car.

"I love you, Finn Hudson" I say.

"I love you too, Rachel Berry soon to be Hudson" he says.

A/N: So that's this chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Your choices for the next chapter are Mary's Song, You Belong With Me, Fearless or I Almost Do.

Review?


	9. You Belong With Me

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee; all rights go to RIB and Fox. I also don't own any of the songs these one shots are based off, all rights go to Taylor Swift.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. In this one shot, Finn and Rachel are both in their first year of high school, and they have been best friends and neighbours for years-Rachel is in love with him, but he is dating Quinn.

"_If you could see_

_That I'm the one_

_Who understands you._

_Been here all along._

_So why can't you see—_

_You belong with me,_

_You belong with me?"_

_-You Belong With Me, Taylor Swift_

Chapter 9: You Belong With Me

_Rachel_

As always when I get in from school, I dump my books on my bed and take out my giant notepad. Finn and I usually write each other notes and hold them up through our bedroom windows. I go over to the window and see that Finn is on the phone arguing with someone-probably Quinn. When is he going to realise that she treats him like crap and he deserves better? I'd say me, but I'm his best friend and he doesn't see me like that. She's probably telling him off about something that he said-she's never really understood Finn's humour. Not like I do. I set my books down on my desk and for an hour or so; I just work on my homework. When I look up from my work, I see that Finn has hung up on Quinn. I grab my huge notepad from the bed and write on it, holding it up against the window.

_Rachel: Hey_

_Finn: Hey_

I turn the page and write another note.

_Rachel: You okay?_

_Finn: Tired of the drama_

I write another note.

_Rachel: Wanna talk about it?_

_Finn: I don't really feel like it_

I write another note but Finn has already closed his curtains. I hold up the sign sadly.

_Rachel: I love you_

"But you'll never know" I whisper to myself. I fall onto my pillow and cry because even though Finn would be so much better with me, he's always going to choose her. I turn on my Tuesday night music-each day I play music from a different musical, Tuesday night is Wicked night. Defying Gravity comes blaring out of the speakers. I start throwing clothes out of my dresser. Maybe if I looked more like Quinn then Finn would be interested in me. I try on what feels like hundreds of different outfits and try different hairstyles, dancing in front of the mirror as I do, but none of them look right. None of them look like me. No matter how hard I try I can never be Quinn. I just don't understand why he doesn't like me. I know him better than she does-we've been best friends since we were little kids. I shouldn't mope. I belt the last note of Defying Gravity into my hairbrush and then I change the track on my IPod and start to dance around the room. I can dance properly of course, but today I just feel like being crazy. I notice Finn watching me from behind the curtain and we share a smile. I hope he's going to talk to me again but he just pulls the curtain back across.

The next day we meet outside the park. We have to work on a history project for school; otherwise Quinn would never let us even talk to each other outside of school. She gets crazy jealous whenever Finn even looks at another girl.

"Hey" he says.

"Hey" I reply.

"Sorry about cutting you off last night, Quinn was just being a complete pain in my ass. I told her a joke and I don't know, I think she found it offensive or something? She's a really hard one to figure out-whenever I think I've worked out what she's thinking, she does a complete 180 on me. I'm glad you're not like that, Rach" he says.

"Why do you go out with her? I mean she's awful to you so why do you do it to yourself?" I blurt out. I didn't mean to say all that, it's just I'm tired of waiting for Finn to figure out that he belongs with me, not with her.

"I don't know, I mean I'm the Quarterback, she's the head cheerleader, people kind of expect us to" he says.

"You really think that's a good enough reason?" I ask.

"It's not the only reason. She might seem like a bitch, and she is sometimes, but she's smart and beautiful and I like her a lot" he says.

"Are you sure you're really happy with her?" I ask hoping he'll say no.

"I'm trying to be. Let's not talk about Quinn anymore. Don't we have a History project to get on with?" he says.

"You are so trying to avoid the question! You never want to get on with work. Whenever we get paired up for an assignment, you let me do all the work" I say.

"I do not" he complains.

"You so do" I say.

"Do not" he counters.

"Do too" I say.

"Do not!" he says.

"Just admit that you're wrong and I'm right" I say.

"Never" he says grabbing me round the waist and starting to tickle me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask between laughs.

"I'm going to tickle you until you say you're wrong" he says, tickling me so hard that I almost scream. My ribs feel like they are going to crack, I'm laughing so hard.

"Let me go" I say.

"Not until you say that I'm right and you're wrong" he says. This continues for a few minutes until he knocks me to the floor. He is on top of me, his arms on either side of my face. Both of us stare at the other one in silence.

"You can kiss me you know. If you want to" I say.

"I want to" he says. His face lowers to meet mine and then he kisses me. It's just as amazing as I always imagined it to be, soft and sweet yet I don't see fireworks like I thought I would. Instead I feel this amazing warmth over me, spreading from my head to my feet. It's so much better, so much more magical. We kiss for several minutes, a proper kiss, not just a peck on the lips. He rolls away from me looking slightly stunned.

"I shouldn't have done that. I just cheated on Quinn" he says shocked.

"Was it worth it?" I ask.

"You're my best friend Rach. Yes it was amazing, but I don't want to ruin our friendship, or my relationship with Quinn" he says. We sit in silence for a while before I get tired of it and need to say something.

"Will you tell me the joke?" I ask.

"What joke?" he replies.

"The one you told Quinn that she found so offensive" I say.

"You really want to know?" he asks.

"Yeah" I say. He leans over and whispers the joke into my ear. Quinn was right, the joke is terribly offensive but it makes me laugh so hard.

"That's terrible. Why on earth did you think telling her that joke would be a good idea?" I say.

"It made you laugh, is it so wrong of me to assume it would make her laugh too?" he says.

"Quinn and I are completely different people. I've known you longer so I'm used to your sometimes slightly wrong sense of humour" I say.

"I wish she got me in the same way you do" he says. I want to scream at him then and ask if he is blind because he must be if he can't see how into him I am.

"Give it time; we've known each other since we were little kids and you've only known Quinn since the beginning of this year, you can't expect her to get you as well as I do when she hasn't known you anywhere near as long" I say though it breaks my heart to say it. What I really want to say is that Quinn is a bitch who is just using him to be popular and that he should be with me but I can't. As his friend, I tell him what he wants to hear no matter how much it hurts me.

"You always know the right thing to say to make me feel better. Thanks Rach" he says giving me a hug.

"No problem" I say, trying not to shake my head at how oblivious he is to my feelings for him. "We really should get to work on this history project though" I say taking my books out of my bag.

"Do we have to?" he groans.

"Yes! I don't know about you but I want to have a decent GPA by the end of this year" I say.

"Fine" he says. We work on a project for about an hour or so and clearly determined to prove me wrong Finn doesn't even take his phone out the entire time we are working and actually contributes some good ideas to the project. Everyone thinks that Finn is dumb but I know how smart he really is.

"Do you want to listen to some music?" I ask.

"Sure" he says smiling. I'm the only one that knows Finn can sing, I've tried to get him to try out for Glee Club but he refuses to sing in front of anyone but me. I take my IPod out and turn on my "Finn" playlist-it's a selection of songs that both me and Finn love and I only listen to when I'm with him. The first song is one of our shared favourites "Faithfully" by Journey. I never really listened to classic rock but when Finn moved in next door to our family, he introduced me to it and now I love it almost as much as he does (I only say this because I think it's pretty much impossible for anyone to love classic rock as much as Finn does). That song was one of the first songs we ever sang together. When we sing our chemistry is undeniable, at least to me, I'm not sure about him. The whole world seems to melt away when we sing, like it's just me and him, and no one else is around.

Finn's phone buzzes in the middle of the song. I feel a pang of jealousy when I realize that it is Quinn. For a while at least, I had managed to forget about Quinn but as usual there is always something to bring me out of my wonderful daydream of me and Finn.

"Sorry" he says picking up his phone.

"No problem. Answer it" I say. He answers the phone.

"Hey Quinn" he says. I don't hear what she says but Finn doesn't look happy so it can't be anything good.

"I don't want to go to this party Quinn, Rachel and I aren't done with our project yet and I really don't feel like spending the night listening to you, Santana and Brittany bitch about people" he says. Quinn must wear him down because eventually he says "Fine, I'll meet you outside the park in ten okay".

"You have to go don't you?" I ask when he hangs up the phone. I try not to sound sad about it but I'm not sure how well I do.

"Yeah, Quinn wants me to go with her to some party tonight. I hate going to these things but you know, I'm her boyfriend so I have to" he says.

"At least let me walk back with you" I say.

"Thanks Rach that would be nice" he says. We walk back through the park and without even really noticing we take each other's hands. It's like that with us; our relationship just comes naturally. When we reach the entrance to the park, we take a seat on the bench.

"I had a great time with you today" he says.

"Me too. It's nice to see you smiling and having a good time. You barely ever smile since you started dating Quinn" I say.

"It's hard to smile when you're dating the most complicated girl in the world" he says.

"Are you sure you're okay Finn? She doesn't seem to make you happy" I say.

"I'm fine Rach really" he says smiling but the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. He forgets that he can't lie to me because I know him too well. He doesn't want to be with her. I'm not going to assume he wants to be with me, though it sure felt like it when he kissed me but if I can't be with him I'd at least like him to be with someone who made him happy. We sit and talk some more whilst we wait for Quinn. I've never laughed so hard in my life and I'm betting neither has he.

Quinn pulls up in her red convertible and storms over to us. I swear that girl doesn't know how to smile; she always has a scowl on her face especially around me.

"Did you get your project done?" she asks, putting on a fake smile for Finn.

"I already told you on the phone that we didn't, so I'll have to meet up with Rachel again later in the week" he says.

"Can you two not just finish the project over the phone?" she whines.

"No we can't. This project is really important for my grade in History this year and I can't let Rachel down by not finishing it. Besides if my grades drop then I can't be on the football team and that wouldn't be good for you either" he says.

"Fine but after this history project, I don't want you two hanging out anymore" she says.

"Quinn, you can't tell me who I can or can't see. Rachel is my best friend; I'm not going to stop seeing her. You just have to trust me that I love you and I wouldn't do anything to hurt you" he says. I want to scream "that's a load of crap" because he technically cheated on her today and he wanted to.

"I trust you, I just don't trust her. Besides I thought Puck was your best friend" she says.

"Well you'll have to get over that Quinn because I'm not cutting Rachel out of my life. You and Puck hang out alone together all the time, why is it any different for me than it is for you?" he says.

"It just is. But I don't have time to argue with you right now. We have to go otherwise you won't have time to change before the party" she says.

"Why do I have to change?" Finn asks.

"You can't seriously be thinking of wearing those old, ratty jeans to the party" she says.

"Yeah, all the guys will be wearing something like this" he says. I don't mention that I love his torn up jeans and think he looks cute in them.

"Well you won't, those jeans are embarrassing" she says. She grabs his arm and starts to drag him away.

"Bye Rach" he calls. He nudges Quinn to tell her to say goodbye to me but she just ignores me.

"Bye Finn" I say. As soon as Quinn's car is out of eyesight, I place my head in my hands and cry. Why can't he see that she's all wrong for him? Or that I'm the one that's right for him?

_Friday_

It's the week after Finn kissed me and homecoming is today. I really don't want to go, after all I hate football and there is no way I'm going to watch Finn dancing with Quinn all night at the dance this evening but I have to go to the game at least-Finn loves it when I come to support him and I want to make him happy. Even if it means having to watch his girlfriend cheer for him from the bleachers and then pretending when he kisses her that he's kissing me instead.

I'm not really watching the game-I mean I cheer whenever Finn scores a touchdown but mostly I'm watching Quinn doing backflips across the edge of the pitch. Every time she finishes one she winks at Finn and he smiles back at her which breaks my heart because I wish he would smile at me like that. I should just get over it-even if he kissed me, he still prefers her.

Finn scores the winning touchdown of the game and the entire stadium erupts in cheers. The rest of the McKinley team lift him up in victory, which makes me laugh since Finn is twice the size of most of the guys on the team. My eyes flicker over to Quinn. She's standing next to a guy with a Mohawk who I recognise as Finn's friend Noah and her arms are wrapped around him. She seems to be a little too close to someone she is just friends with, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking. She leans over and kisses him right in front of Finn.

I'm too far away to hear what they are saying so I push through the people on the bleachers to be closer. Eavesdropping is bad, I know that but I have to hear if they are going to break up. If he breaks up with Quinn then I just might have a chance.

"What the hell Quinn?" he yells.

"I'm sorry Finn, you just weren't satisfying me in the way I wanted so I decided to look for what I wanted elsewhere" she says. She is such a bitch.

"I thought you wanted to wait to make it special" he says.

"Turns out I didn't want that after all" she says.

"Well maybe I don't want you" he says.

"Wait! No you can't break up with me" she protests.

"Why not? You cheated on me" he says.

"Because I'm the head cheerleader and you are the Quarterback. People expect us to date" she says.

"Maybe I'm tired of doing what people expect me to do" he says.

"Finn I'm sorry! I promise it will never happen again" she says.

"Damn right it won't because I'm not your boyfriend anymore. Goodbye Quinn" he says storming off the field. I slip through the crowds which is pretty easy since I'm so small and follow him out.

"Finn!" I call.

"I really don't feel like talking right now Rach" he says.

"I know, I just wanted to give you something" I say. I take a brown paper bag out of my pocket and hand it to him. He opens it and his face lights up when he sees what it is.

"Sour Patch Kids?" he asks.

"Your favourite sweets for when you're sad" I say.

"How did you know I was going to be sad?" he asks.

"I didn't, I got these to give to you to celebrate your win; after all you like Sour Patch Kids even when you're not sad" I say.

"Thank you for these Rach" he says.

"You know when you do feel ready to talk about this, I'll be here right?" I say.

"I know that, thank you" he says.

"For the sweets?" I ask.

"For everything" he says giving me a hug. I watch as he walks away feeling more hope than I have in a long time-he finally realised that Quinn was all wrong for him. Now all that's left is for him to realise that I'm the one who's right for him.

That evening I am sitting on my bed doing my work for school when I notice Finn is in his tux for the dance. I kind of assumed he wouldn't be going to the dance after his blowout with Quinn this afternoon but he must be. I watch as he writes something on a piece of paper.

_-You going tonight?_

I grab my notepad from under my bed and write a note of my own.

_-No, studying_

I still don't really want to go to the dance. Even if Finn and Quinn won't be dancing together all night, there's no doubt that Quinn will be all over him trying to get him to forgive her and I don't want to watch that.

He writes another note which reads:

_-Wish you were_

I watch as he looks over at me sadly before walking out of his bedroom. I shove my books off the bed uncovering the note I wrote last Tuesday, the one that says "I love you". I stand up determinedly. If I don't tell Finn how I feel tonight then I might never do it and even if he turns me down flat, at least I will have told him. It's lucky I bought a dress for homecoming at the beginning of the year when I thought I was still going. I decided on a strapless red dress that reaches just past my knees with a black bow tied around the middle. I don't have time to do anything amazing with my hair, so I just leave it in loose curls that frame my face. I slip on a pair of strappy black sandals and attach the gold star necklace that Finn gave me for my birthday around my neck.

I take one last look in the mirror before I leave. Satisfied that I look good enough, I walk carefully down the stairs, making sure that I don't trip in my sandals.

"Sweetheart?" my daddy says peering out from the kitchen. "Where are you going?" he asks.

"I decided to go to the Homecoming dance after all" I say.

"Aww sweetheart I'm so pleased. Did Finn finally come to his senses and ask you?" he says.

"No but I'm going there to tell him how I feel. Can you give me a ride?" I ask.

"Are you sure that's a good idea princess? Isn't Finn still with that Quinn girl?" he says.

"No they broke up-she kissed another guy at the football game today" I say.

"Are you sure you should be going after a guy who just broke up with his girlfriend?" he asks.

"I've been in love with him for years Daddy, since I was twelve. If I don't tell him tonight I may never get the courage to tell him" I say.

"If this is what you really want then go for it princess. I'll grab the keys and we'll go" he says. He picks up the keys from the kitchen counter and we walk to the car together. He opens the door for me, helping me get into the car so I don't trip on my shoes.

We don't talk very much on the way to school, I'm far too nervous for that. What if he doesn't say it back? What if he's decided to forgive Quinn and I'm too late? I keep tapping my fingers on the window of the car, which annoys Daddy to no end but I can't help it.

"Good luck princess" he says giving me a kiss on the cheek when we pull up at school.

"Thank you Daddy" I say. He opens my door for me and helps me out. I wave goodbye to him and then I make my way up the stairs, attempting not to trip on my heels again-I really should have worn flat shoes, but heels make me look taller which I need since I'm so short.

I walk nervously towards the doors of the gym. This is it. There's no going back now-if he says that he doesn't love me, then our friendship is likely to be over for good. If he says that he does, then this will be the start of an entirely new chapter for us. I take a deep breath and then push the doors of the gym open.

The music stops when I walk in-it sounds cliché but it really does, probably because the DJ is one of the boys in my year and is quite surprised that geeky Rachel Berry can actually look pretty. I look self-consciously around the room for Finn. Quinn is clutching onto him possessively, as I expected but he doesn't look very happy. He looks over at me, and I swear his mouth drops to the floor. He pushes Quinn away from him and walks towards me.

I shyly take the piece of paper out from behind my back and unfold it to reveal the words written in black ink.

_-I love you_

I watch as he takes something out of the pocket of his tux. It's a folded up piece of paper just like mine and I have to stop myself screaming in happiness because I think I know what it says. I'm right, there written in blue ink are the three words I've wanted since I was twelve.

-_I love you_

He gives me one of his adorable half smiles and we step nervously towards each other. He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me and for that moment it feels like it is just me and him in the room, no one else.

"How long?" he asks.

"Since I was twelve, you?" I ask.

"Thirteen. Dating Quinn was a huge mistake Rach, it's always been you" he says.

"What about not being willing to risk our friendship?" I ask.

"I wouldn't if I wasn't absolutely sure that this was what I wanted" he says.

"And you're absolutely sure?" I ask.

"Yes, I love you Rach" he says.

"I love you too" I say and we kiss again. It may have taken years, but Finn has finally figured out where he belongs, and that is with me.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, I'm sorry this took longer than I was intending to update, but its summer now so hopefully I should be able to write a lot more. I hope you guys liked this chapter-it's based on another one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs (one that I got to see her perform live at the Red Tour in February which was so awesome!) and I hope I did it justice-I watched the music video a lot whilst writing this chapter and I'm sure those of you who have seen it can tell. Your choices for the next chapter are Sparks Fly, Last Kiss, Tim McGraw or The Way I Loved You.

Review?


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